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THOMAS  WOOLNER,  R.A. 


THOMAS    WOOLNER 

From  a  drawing  by  D.  G.  Rossetti,  1852,  in  the  possession  of  Miss  Orme. 


THOMAS  WOOLNER,  R.A 

SCULPTOR   AND   POET 

HIS  LIFE  IN  LETTERS 


WRITTEN     BY    HIS     DAUGHTER 

AMY   WOOLNER 

(I 


NEW   YORK 

E.    P.    DUTTON    &   COMPANY 

681    FIFTH    AVENUE 

1917 


C  -1 


Printed   in    Great    Britain'    by 

Richard  Clay  &  Sons,   Limited, 

brunswick  st.,  stamford  st.,  s.e.  1. 

and  bungay.  suffolk. 


o 


•  .  •     • •. 


•     ••        * 


■■^^'■^0^ 


M/A/ 


TO 

MY   SISTERS 

I    DEDICATE 
THIS   LIFE   OF   THEIR   FATHER 


WORK 

Why  has  no  religion  this  command  before  all  others : 
Thou  shalt  work  ? 


See,  my  hands    are    rough  with    work — I    have    not 
merely  raised  them  in  prayer. 

It  is  well  for  me  that  I  can  work. 

It  is  not  joy  nor  repose  which  is  the  aim  of  life.     It 

is  work,  or  there  is  no  aim  at  all. 

T.    WOOLNER. 


PREFACE 

A  LIFE  of  Thomas  Woolner  has  been  long  in  contempla- 
tion and  preparation,  but  many  reasons  and  difficulties 
have  come  in  the  way  of  its  realization.  First  and  fore- 
most is  the  desire  to  plainly  and  truthfully  demonstrate 
the  great  industry,  thoroughness  and  pure  ideals  of  the 
Sculptor — and  to  show  the  admiration  in  which  he  was 
held  by  so  large  a  number  of  eminent  men  of  his  day. 

This  record  of  a  life's  work  has  been  compiled  from 
personal  knowledge,  autograph  letters,  MSS.  and  diaries, 
most  of  which  are  in  my  keeping.  I  have  received  the 
greatest  courtesy  and  kindest  response  from  almost  every 
one  written  to  for  permission  to  publish  letters.  And  my 
special  thanks  are  due  to  Hallam  Lord  Tennyson  for 
permission  to  publish  and  for  kindly  help ;  to  Mrs.  Coventry 
Patmore  and  Mrs.  Allingham  for  advice  and  suggestions; 
and  to  Mr.  H.  N.  Gladstone,  Mr.  WilUam  M.  Rossetti, 
Mr.  Alexander  Carlyle,  Miss  Froude,  Miss  Boyd,  to  my 
sisters  for  their  help,  and  many  others  for  permission  to 
publish. 

Besides  these  my  thanks  are  tendered  to  Messrs.  Smith, 

Elder  &  Co.,  for  permission  to  print  the  letters  of  Robert 

Browning;  to  Messrs.  Macmillan  for  the  permit  to  include 

in  this  memoir  "  A  Sea  Story  " ;  and  to  the  Proprietors 

of  Punch  for  special  permission  to  reprint  the  verses  of 

November  12,  1859. 

Amy  Woolner. 


IX 


INTRODUCTION 

It  may  interest  some  who  have  not  had  the  opportunity 
of  studying  the  sculptor's  art  and  methods  to  learn  how 
he  proceeds.  Woolner — and  probably  this  is  the  way  with 
most  sculptors — made  a  rough  pencil  sketch  of  his  subject. 
If  an  imaginative  work  or  a  statue,  a  small  clay  model- 
sketch  was  made  and  cast  in  plaster  of  Paris,  and  when 
approved  of  by  those  who  gave  the  commission,  he  set 
to  work  on  the  large  clay  model.  For  a  statue  a  rough 
frame  was  erected  and  the  clay  stuck  on  in  large  masses 
by  one  of  the  studio  men,  roughly  indicating  the  form  : 
when  the  sculptor  had  worked  on  it  himself,  and  it  was 
finished  up  to  the  point  of  perfection  he  considered  necessary, 
the  model  was  cast  in  plaster,  an  intricate  business,  the 
plaster  cast  was  cleaned  up,  the  seams  removed,  and  any 
little  blemishes  caused  by  air-holes  filled  up — and  the 
work  would  be  ready  to  be  sent  to  the  foundry  to  be  cast 
in  bronze  or  to  be  carved  in  marble.  The  block  was  first 
hewn  into  a  rough  shape,  then  "  pointed  "  (a  mechanical 
process)  by  a  skilled  mason,  who  brought  the  work  to  a 
close  resemblance  to  the  original,  when  Woolner  would 
begin  to  carve  it  himself,  so  that  the  surfaces  of  all  his 
marble  sculptures  show  the  work  of  his  own  hand. 


XI 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   I 

PAGE 

Birth — Youth — Early  works — Association  with  the  P.R.B. — First 
medalHons  of  Tennyson  and  Carlyle — "  The  Germ  " — ^Words- 
worth medallion  in  Grasmere  Church — Tennyson's  letter  on 
its  epitaph — ^Wordsworth  Memorial  competition — Sails  for 
Australian  gold-fields  1852 1 

CHAPTER   n 

Letter  to  his  father  on  board  The  Windsor — Arrival  at  Port  Phillip 
— Goes  to  Melbourne — Dr.  Godfrey  Howitt — Journal  of  the 
gold-fields — Letters  to  and  from  England — D.  G.  Rossetti — 
F.  G.  Stephens 15 

CHAPTER   III 

Sea  Story — Returns  to  England — Log  on  Queen  of  the  Sovih — 
Arrival  in  England,  1854 — The  Australian  medallions — His 
early  friends 74 

CHAPTER   IV 

Letters  to  and  from  Mrs.  Tennyson  from  October,  1854,  to  August, 

1856 104 

CHAPTER   V 

Letters  from  Sir  John  Simeon,  James  Spedding,  William  Ailing- 
ham,  Vernon  Lushington,  Robert  Browning,  W.  B.  Scott, 
D.  G.  Rossetti  and  Mrs.  Tennyson — Woolner's  letters  to  Mrs. 
Tennyson,  W.  M.  Rossetti  and  Mrs.  Patmore         .        .        .        .117 

CHAPTER   VI 

Letters  from  Vernon  Lushington,  W.  B.  Scott,  Mrs.  Tennyson, 
Hallam  Tennyson,  Mrs.  Carlyle  and  T.  Palgrave — James 
Spedding — ^Woolner's  letters   to  Mrs.   Tennyson,    1858-59        .      140 

CHAPTER   VII 

Letter   from   T.    Carlyle — ^Hogarth   Club — Dr.    Hooker — Letters   to 

and  from  Mrs.  Tennyson 164 

CHAPTER   VEII 

Letters  from  Vernon  Lushington,  Mrs.  Tennyson,  Edmund  W. 
Lushington — Correspondence  about  Tennyson  Bust  for  Trinity 
Cambridge — Letters  to  Mrs.  Tennyson — Punch  poem  on  Bust 

at  Trinity,   1859  .        .  173 

xiii 


xiv  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER   IX 


rxat 


Letters  to  and  from  Mrs.  Tennyson — ^Professor  Sedgwick — Edward 

Lear  and  Mrs.  Combe — Sedgwick  and  Hooker  Busts  ..        .        .      181 

CHAPTER   X 

Letters  to  and  from  Mrs.  Tennyson — Letters  from  Browning,  Lear, 
Dr.  Montagu  Butler,  Mrs.  Carlyle's  letter  on  her  cat— -J.  A. 
Froude — Letters  to  Coventry  Patmore  and  F.  T.  Palgrave     .      193 

CHAPTER   XI 
•'  Enoch  Arden  " 208 

CHAPTER   XII 

Letters  to  and  from  Mrs.  Tennyson — Browning  writes  stanza  on 
Woolner's  group  "  Constance  and  Arthur " — Letters  from 
Mrs.  Carlyle,  Professor  Sedgwick,  Thomas  Carlyle,  Sir  John 
Simeon  (Godley  Statue)  and  Dr.  Montagu  Butler — "  Aylmer's 
Field"  or  "The  Sermon,"   1862— Letter  to  F.  T.  Palgrave     .     215 

CHAPTER  XIII 

Thomas  Carlyle  and  Woolner  hear  Dickens  read — The  decorations 
for  New  Assize  Courts,  Manchester — Letters  to  and  from  C. 
Patmore  ("  My  Beautiful  Lady  ") — Letters  from  Allingham, 
Browning,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Combe — First  Gladstone  Bust — 
Letters  to  and  from  W.  E.  Gladstone — ^Visit  to  Hawarden — 
Letters  to  and  from  Mrs.  Tennyson — ^Haehnel's  Wild  Boar    .     232 

CHAPTER   XIV 

Letters  from  H.  N.  Gladstone  and  Carlyle — ^Engagement — Congratu- 
lations— ^Marriage,  1864 — Letters  to  and  from  Mrs.  Tennyson 
— ^Letter  from  Mrs.  Carlyle 246 

CHAPTER   XV 

Woolner  and  his  studio  men :  Jimmy  Holland,  Woodington  and 
the  "  Old  Temeraire  " — Letters  to  W.  E.  Gladstone,  Alling- 
ham, F.  T.  Palgrave  and  Mrs.  Tennyson — ^Letters  from  Mrs. 
Carlyle,  Thomas  Combe,  W.  E.  Gladstone,  Allingham,  J.  H. 
Newman  and  F.  T.  Palgrave 260 

CHAPTER   XVI 

Letters  from  Gifford  Palgrave,  Edward  Fitzgerald,  Mrs.  Combe, 
F.  T.  Palgrave,  Dr.  Hooker — His  picture-collecting— ^Letters 
from  Charles  Darwin  ("  Woolnerian  tip "),  Edward  Lear, 
Edward  Fitzgerald — Letters  to  and  from  Mrs.  Tennyson  .        .277 

CHAPTER   XVII 

Elected  Associate  of  the  Royal  Academy,  1871 — Lord  Lawrence 
statue  —  His  works  at  the  Royal  Academy  —  Letter  from 
Mrs.  Tennyson,  1872 — Cranesden — Letter  to  V.  Lushington  on 
the  death  of  his  father — Letter  from  J.  A.  Froude — Letters  to 
and  from  John  Frederick  Lewis,  R.A. — Captain  Cook  statue 
and  correspondence  thereon 289 


CONTENTS  XV 

CHAPTER   XVin 

FAOE 

Letters  to  and  from  J.  F.  Lewis,  R.A. — Bluecoat  Boy  Group — 
Portrait  by  Alphonse  Legros — Visit  to  Italy — Elected  a  Royal 
Academician,  1874 — Letter  from  J.  A.  Froude  (Reredos) — 
Kingsley  bust  for  Westminster  Abbey — Letters  from  Mrs. 
Kingsley — Letter  to  F.  T.  Palgrave  (Flaxman  drawings) — 
The  bearded  marble  bust  of  Tennyson — Elected  Professor  of 
Sculpture — "  Grodiva  " — Letters  from  William  Allingham  and 
his  Sonnet  on  Captain  Cook 299 

CHAPTER   XIX 

W  Aldis  Wright,  visit  to  Cranesden — Letters  about  the  poem 
"  Pygmalion  "  from  W.  A.  Wright,  Cardinal  Newman  and 
W.  E.  Gladstone — Urban  Club — Speech  on  Shakespeare — 
"  Our    Club  " — and    other   clubs — ^Anecdotes       ....     309 

CHAPTER   XX 

Letters  to  and  from  W.  E.  Gladstone — Busts  of  English  Premiers 
for  Sydney — Death  of  his  son  Geoffrey,  1882 — Letter  from 
W,  M.  Rossetti — Drawing  of  his  brother — Letters  to  and  from 
W.  E.  Gladstone — Guildfhall  bust — Letters  to  and  from  C. 
Patmore — Cruise  around  Irish  coast,  1884 — Cruise  to  the 
North  Cape  with  Sir  Donald  Currie — Letter  from  Cardinal 
Newman  on  "  Silenus  " — Sir  Frederick  Weld  and  the  statue 
of  Sir  Stamford  Rafifles — House  in  Sussex — Letters  from  W.  B. 
Scott,  W.  Aldis  Wright,  Dr.  Montagu  Butler — Honorary  Free- 
dom of  the  Salters'  Company,  1891 — Last  work,  "The  House- 
maid"— Illness — Death,  1892 — His  family  life — Appreciation  by 
J.  Callander  Ross 320 

List  of  Works 336 

List  of  Writings 346 

Index 347 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


PoHTRAiT  OF  Thomas  Woolner,  BY  D.  G.  RossETTi,  1852    Frontispiece 

To  face  page 

Portrait  of  Father  of  T.  Woolner,   1842 7 

T.  Woolner  as  Mr.  B 's  Tyger 14 

"Puck" 21 

Design  for  Wordsworth  Monument,  1852 28 

Medallion  of  W.  C.  Wentworth,   1854 35 

Medallion  of  Alfred  Tennyson,  1856 42 

Medallion  of  Robert  Browning,  1856 49 

Statue  of  Bacon,  1857 56 

St.  John  :    Moses.     (Designs  for  pulpit  of  Llandaff  Cathedral)     .  63 

Bust  of  Alfred  Tennyson,  1857  (Collotype) 70 

Bust  of  Professor  Sedgwick 77 

Model  Sketch  for  Caw^npore  Memorial 84 

Drawing  of  Piping  Shepherd.   (Frontispiece  to  "  Golden  Treasury  ")  90 

Constance  and  Arthur,  or  Deaf  and  Dumb,  1862       ...  95 

Specimen  of  Woolner's  Handwriting 100 

Tassie  Medallion  of  Dr.  Alexander  Waugh         ....  107 

Portrait  of  Alice  Gertrude  Woolner,  by  Arthur  Hughes    .  113 

The  Sculptor  among  his  men 119 

Heavenly  Welcome,  Peel  Monument  (Collotype,)  .        .        .        .126 

Bust  of  Dr.  John  Henry  Newman 134 

The  Lord's  Prayer,  Trevelyan  Group  (Collotype,)      .        .        .  142 

ViRGiLiA  (Alto -relief) 150 

"  Achilles  Shouting  from  the  Trenches  "  (Bas-relief  in  Bodleian)  157 

In  Memoriam,  1870 164 

In  Memoriam  G.  B 171 

Guinivere 178 

Cranesden 185 

Feeding  the  Hungry  (Bas-relief  on  Wigton  Fountain)  .        .193 

Head  of  Ophelia 200 

Monument  to  Mrs.  Anthony  Froude 207 

The  Listening  Boy 213 

xvii 


xviii  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

To  face  page 

The  Bluecoat  Boy  Group 219 

Statue  of  Lord  Lawrence 229 

Bearded  Bust  of  Alfred  Tennyson,  1876 237 

The  Crucifixion — Reredos 244 

Bust  of  Charles  Kingsley 252 

Sir  Cowasjee  Jehanghir  Readymoney  (Marble  Statue,  Bombay, 

1876) 259 

Portrait  of  Thomas  Woolner,  1877 266 

GoDivA.     Marble  Statue  (Collotype) 273 

Captain  Cook  (Colossal  Statue,  1878) 280 

Bust  of  Right  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone,  1883 287 

Dorothy  (Marble  Medallion,  1883) 292 

Alice  Gertrude  Woolner  (Medallion,   1883) 299 

The  Water  Lily  (Alto-relief,  1884) 306 

Sir  Stamford  Raffles  (Colossal  Statue,  Bronze,  1887)  .        .        .  313 

T.  Woolner  in  his  Studio 325 

The  Housemaid  (Life-size  Bronze  Statue,  1892) 332 


THOMAS    WOOLNER,    R.A. 


CHAPTER  I 

Thomas  Woolner  ^  the  sculptor  was  born  at  Hadleigh 
in  Suffolk  on  December  17,  in  the  year  1825.  There  is 
little  to  say  of  his  early  childhood  and  youth,  but  a  few 
anecdotes  are  told  of  him.  When  a  very  small  boy  he 
slept  in  a  little  bed  in  the  room  of  his  grandfather  and 
grandmother.  He  remembered  distinctly  the  flowered 
nightshirt  he  wore,  and  how  he  used  to  collect  beetles  and 
grasshoppers  in  the  daytime  and  fill  his  jacket  pockets 
with  them,  and  at  night  they  would  escape  and  make 
strange  noises  and  clickings  in  the  room  and  rouse  the  old 
grandparents,  who  with  much  trouble  would  light  a  candle 

^  The  name  Woolner  is  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin  from  Ulnod,  Woolnough 
being  the  modem  way  of  spelling  the  name.  Ulnod  or  Woolnough  was  a 
freeman  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor — indeed,  there  were  several 
freemen  of  that  name  holding  lands  in  SuifoLk,  mentioned  in  the  Suffolk 
Domesday.  Ulnod  or  Ulnoth,  Wulfnoth,  Woolnoth  are  the  same  name 
becoming  in  later  times  Woolnough,  changed  into  Woolner  by  the  great- 
grandfather of  Thomas  Woolner,  the  sculptor.  His  great-grandfather 
went  to  India  in  the  service  of  the  East  India  Company ;  when  he  returned, 
after  some  years,  he  found  his  brother  had  treated  him  badly  with  regard 
to  some  land  he  had;  he  was  so  indignant  that  he  altered  the  spelling  of 
his  name  from  "  nough  "  to  "  ner,"  to  be  different  from  his  brother.  This 
man's  son,  the  sculptor's  grandfather,  fought  in  the  Peninsular  War;  he 
held  a  breach  for  a  short  time  against  a  number  of  the  enemy ;  his  bravery 
was  noticed  by  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  who  said  :  "A  Woolner  shall 
never  ask  a  favour  of  a  Lennox  and  be  refused  !  "  This  promise  was 
redeemed  later  on  when  Thomas  Woolner's  father  asked  the  then  Duke 
of  Richmond  for  an  appointment,  which  was  given  him.  The  sculptor's 
father  was  a  very  handsome  man,  and  his  brilliant  dark  eyes  bore  evidence 
of  the  Spanish  blood  in  the  family,  through  the  marriage,  some  generations 
back,  of  a  Woolner  to  a  lovely  Irish  girl,  Mary  Castlereagh,  whose  far- 
away ancestor  was  a  Spaniard,  from  the  Spanish  Armada,  washed  ashore 
after  the  vessels  had  been  wrecked  on  the  Irish  coast.  And,  oddly  enough, 
from  that  day  to  this  there  has  always  been,  with  one  small  break,  a 
Mary  in  the  family. 
B 


2  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

by  aid  of  a  tinder-box,  and  he  recollected  the  sound  of 
the  tinder  striking  and  the  old  folk  saying  :  "  It's  that 
Tom  again  with  his  grasshoppers  and  insects  !  " 

He  was  also  very  fond  of  catching  butterflies  of  all 
kinds,  nipping  a  tiny  bit  out  of  their  wings  and  letting 
them  fly  away  again,  and  he  used  to  recognize  with  pride 
his  butterflies  all  around  the  country-side.  From  his  earliest 
youth  upwards  Woolner  was  a  great  lover  and  observer 
of  nature,  as  are  most  true  artists  and  poets. 

Of  his  childhood  there  is  little  more  to  tell,  but  if  one 
may  judge  by  the  exquisitely  neatly  written  school  copy- 
books, still  preserved,  he  must  have  been  a  promising 
scholar.  He  was  very  dainty  in  his  care  of  things,  and 
disliked  to  see  furniture  scratched  or  china  cracked.  He 
made  a  collection  of  china  in  later  days,  and  would  never 
knowingly  buy  a  specimen  if  cracked  or  mended. 

Woolner  received  his  first  education  near  Ipswich,  up 
to  the  age  of  ten,  and  afterwards  at  a  boarding  school  at 
Brixton;  but  when  his  father  and  the  family  settled  in 
London  he  was  taken  from  Brixton  and  used  to  go  to  a 
day  school  near  Stanhope  Street,  afterwards  called  Mary 
Street.  When  he  was  about  thirteen  years  old  he  was 
sent  to  Behnes  the  painter  to  study;  his  father  was  not 
very  sympathetic  about  his  son's  artistic  aspirations,  and 
it  was  his  stepmother  who  really  helped  him  to  attain 
his  object  and  herself  paid  the  initial  expenses. 

The  painter  unfortunately  soon  died,  but  young  Woolner 
showed  such  decided  talent  that  the  well-known  sculptor 
William  Behnes,  brother  of  the  painter,  took  him  as  a 
pupil.  He  became  a  favourite  with  his  master,  who 
showed  great  interest  in  him  and  thoroughly  taught  him 
all  the  technical  part  of  a  sculptor's  education.  Woolner 
stayed  with  Behnes  for  six  years  and  carved  for  him 
later  on. 

During  his  apprenticeship  he  had  an  amusing  experience. 
One  day  when  left  in  charge  by  Behnes,  who  was  then  at 
work  on  his  statue  of  "  Godiva  "  (a  nude  figure  on  a  horse 
with  a  piece  of  drapery  falling  over  one  foot),  a  city  magnate 
came  to  see  the  statue — and  walked  round  it  several  times 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS  3 

and  began  counting  the  fingers  on  each  hand  thus  : 
"  One,  two,  three,  four,  five,  right  !  One,  two,  three, 
four,  five,  right !  "  And  then  the  toes  were  hkewise  counted ; 
but  one  foot  having  the  drapery  over  it,  he  said  :  "  One, 
two,  three,  but  where  are  the  others  ? "  Upon  being 
shown  they  were  hidden  by  a  fold  in  the  drapery  he  was 
satisfied,  and  turning  to  young  Woolner  said  :  "  Tell  him 
it's  perfect  !  " 

The  young  student  was  so  devoted  to  his  teacher  that 

an  artist  as  a  joke  made  a  caricature  of  him  as  Mr.  B 's 

Tyger. 

Woolner  carved  for  the  master  Behnes  for  some  years, 
and  it  was  at  his  suggestion  he  became  a  student  at  the 
Royal  Academy  Schools,  which  he  entered  on  December  16, 

1842,  the  day  before  his  seventeenth  birthday.  He  worked 
so  well  and  diligently  he  was  able  to  send  the  next  year, 

1843,  a  model  group  of  "  Eleanor  sucking  the  poison  from 
Prince  Edward's  wound  "  to  the  Royal  Academy,  where 
it  was  exhibited. 

In  1844,  he  exhibited  in  Westminster  Hall  an  ambitious 
life-sized  group  of  the  "  Death  of  Boadicea,"  a  dramatic 
piece  of  sculpture  mentioned  in  the  Athenceum  of  the  time, 
from  which  paper  the  following  extract  is  taken  : — 

"  Exhibition  at  Westminster  Hall.  —  In  mentioning 
Mr.  Henning's  '  Boadicea '  we  should  not  have  forgotten 
the  good  word  due  to  Mr.  Thomas  Woolner's  '  Death 
of  Boadicea  '  (154).  This,  like  Mr.  Henning's,  is  a  fine 
group.  The  dying  queen,  mastered  by  the  anguish  of 
the  hour,  lies  like  a  royal  martyr  in  the  arms  that 
sustain  her.  There  is  great  force  of  hand  here ;  suffering, 
moral  and  physical,  are  powerfully  expressed.  The 
treatment  is  highly  dramatic  and  the  language  of  its 
drama  is  pure  sculpture." 

Woolner  was  hardly  nineteen  at  the  time.  This  group 
was  on  show  at  the  Coliseum,  Regent's  Park.  Woolner 
wished  to  break  it  up,  but  a  man  begged  leave  to  take  it 
away,  and  what  afterwards  became  of  it  is  not  known. 
There  is  no  photograph  of  it  nor  any  model  sketch.  In 
1845,  Woolner  won  the  silver  medal  of  the  Society  of  Arts 


4  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

for  an  original  design,  a  bas-relief  entitled  "  Affection." 
This  medal  is  still  preserved. 

When  nineteen  Woolner  began  his  figure  of  "  Puck," 
but  it  was  not  exhibited  in  the  British  Institution  until 
1847. 

This  little  figure  (twice  cast  in  bronze — once  for  Louisa 
Lady  Ashburton  in  1866  and  exhibited  at  the  Royal 
Academy,  and  once  again  for  Sir  John  Bland-Sutton  in 
1908)  is  one  of  Woolner's  most  admired  and  attractive 
earlier  works. 

The  following  short  description  of  it  cannot  be  improved 
on :  "  The  sprite  stands  on  a  toadstool.  A  snake  is 
stealthily  creeping  towards  an  unconscious  toad.  Puck  is 
about  to  touch  the  toad  with  his  foot,  that  thus  warned 
it  may  escape  the  jaws  of  the  enemy.  A  smile  of  half 
mischievous  satisfaction  is  on  his  face." 

Between  the  time  of  beginning  his  "  Puck "  and  its 
completion  in  1847,  Woolner  modelled  a  bas-relief 
"  Alastor,"  and  also  sent  a  medallion  portrait  to  the  Royal 
Academy  in  1846.  In  1847  his  "  Puck "  was  exhibited 
at  the  British  Institution ;  and  he  modelled  a  little  group, 
"  Feeding  the  Hungry,"  a  pretty  design  of  a  small  child 
and  chickens.  The  little  fellow  seated  has  his  hand  raised 
dropping  grain  to  the  expectant  chicks  below;  this  was 
exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  the  same  year. 

His  first  introduction  to  the  Pre-Raphaelite  Brotherhood 
took  place  about  this  time  :  most  of  whose  members  sooner 
or  later  became  his  friends,  some  remained  so  till  his 
death.  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti  was  the  first  of  these,  and 
Woolner  and  he  soon  struck  up  a  friendship;  the  sculptor 
shortly  after  becoming  acquainted  with  him  joined  the 
Brotherhood  and  was  one  of  the  original  seven,  the  others 
being  D.  G.  Rossetti,  W.  Holman-Hunt,  F.  G.  Stephens, 
J.  E.  Millais,  J.  ColHnson,  and  W.  M.  Rossetti,  the 
Secretary  to  the  Brotherhood  of  the  little  group  of  earnest 
young  men  bent  on  regenerating  Art.  They  were  full  of 
the  most  honest  enthusiasm,  and  their  real  affection  for 
each  other  and  the  active  steps  they  took  to  advance  one 
another's  fortunes  will  ever  remain  a    pleasant  record  of 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  5 

the  early  feelings  and  actions  of  these  young  artists.  In 
those  days  men  had  time  to  write  long  affectionate  letters 
from  the  heart,  entering  with  genuine  and  lively  interest 
into  the  affairs  of  business  and  pleasure  of  their  artistic 
brethren.  The  letters  that  follow  later  will  speak  for 
themselves.  In  1848  Woolner  exhibited  his  "  Eros  and 
Euphros^Tie,"  a  graceful  group,  the  little  Eros  perched 
on  the  nymph's  shoulder  is  tenderly  kissing  her  upturned 
face.  It  was  reproduced  by  Wedgwood  in  black  jasper, 
and  from  the  unusual  length  of  the  limbs  was  called  by 
the  workmen  at  Etruria  "  Lanky  Nan  !  "  He  also  modelled 
and  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  a  bas-relief,  ''  The 
Rainbow."  This  design  was  afterwards  reduced  and  carved 
as  a  cameo,  but  was  never  executed  in  marble  or  cast  in 
bronze. 

Woolner  sent  to  the  British  Institution,  1848,  another 
ideal  group  :  "  Titania  caressing  the  Indian  Boy  " ;  all 
these  works  being  designed  and  modelled  before  he 
came  in  touch  with  the  Pre-Raphaelites,  and  while  still 
working  more  or  less  for  Behnes.  His  first  studio,  during 
the  latter  years  of  his  apprenticeship,  was  a  very  modest 
place,  little  more  than  a  barn  :  a  shed,  in  fact,  at  the  end  of  a 
yard  in  which  grew  two  lilacs  and  a  laburnum  tree ;  in  the 
wall  was  a  mountain  ash.  Laburnum  and  lilac  were  ever 
favourites  of  his.  The  studio  had  shelves  all  round  and 
big  tables  and  benches,  and  an  old  man  used  to  come  in 
to  beat  up  the  clay  for  the  young  sculptor. 

He  next  took  the  Stanhope  Street  Studio,  where  the 
Pre-Raphaelites  used  to  meet,  smoke  and  have  tea,  dis- 
cussing the  Art  and  Poetry  of  the  day.  They  were  great 
admirers  of  Tennyson,  Browning  and  Patmore;  and  the 
following  letter  from  Rossetti  shows  the  keenness  of  his 
interest  in  Browning. 

Sunday  night, 

November  1848. 

Dear  Woolner, 

I  have  just  heard  of  something  which  will  probably 
take  me  from  the  study  to-morrow  night,  but  which  never- 
theless, I  hope,  will  not  deprive  me  of  your  company.     As 


6  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

thus.  I  am  told  that  to-morrow  is  to  be  the  first  night  at 
Sadler's  Wells  Theatre,  of  Browning's  "  Blot  in  the 
'Scutcheon."  I  think  you  do  not  know  this  play.  It  is  a 
most  wonderful  production,  and  possessed  moreover  of 
that  real,  intrinsic,  and  unconventional  purity  which 
never  fails  to  excite  the  moral  execration  of  the  enlightened 
Briton.  It  was  acted  for  3  or  4  nights  at  Co  vent  Garden, 
under  Macready's  management,  amidst  a  shower  of  hisses 
and  puritanical  anathemas.  Its  reception  this  time,  how- 
ever, will  not  probably  be  so  violent,  as  I  suspect  that 
virtue  is  less  sensitive  at  Islington.  I  suppose  the  less 
said  of  the  acting  will  prove  to  be  the  soonest  mended; 
but  of  course  I  must  be  there,  as  the  great  author  may 
be  visible.  Of  course  William  will  go  [if  back  by  then] 
and  I  believe  Hunt  also.  We  will  therefore  call  on  you 
at  I  past  5  or  a  little  before  6  o'clk  in  the  hope  that 
you  will  accompany  us.  You  need  not  trouble  yourself 
to  let  us  know  before  hand,  as  it  is  almost  in  our  way  to 
the  theatre.  .  .  . 

Your  sincere  friend, 

Gabriel  Dante  Rossetti. 

To-day  being  Sunday,  I  presume  that  Prometheus  & 
Orpheus  (persons  I  fear  not  much  addicted  to  the  estab- 
lished church)  have  proceeded  with  the  instruction  of 
their  respective  classes  in  reading  and  music.  St.  Ann 
put  on  a  red  hood  to-day,  and  Rienzi  indulged  in  a  white 
stocking. 

In  the  year  1848  Woolner  went  for  a  short  time  to  Paris ; 
this  was  his  first  visit  to  the  Continent.  While  in  Paris  he 
saw  the  painter  Ingles,  for  whose  art  he  had  then  and 
always  the  greatest  admiration.  The  passport  for  this 
journey  is  still  preserved  and  gives  a  strangely  inaccurate 
description  of  his  personal  appearance,  stating  his  eyes 
were  blue  :  they  were  dark  brown,  his  eyebrows  and  eye- 
lashes were  dark — his  hair  a  beautiful  chestnut  colour. 

During  the  next  years — 1849,  1850  and  1851 — Woolner 
worked  hard  for  a  livelihood  at  portrait  medallions.  One 
of  these  was  of  the  poet  Coventry  Patmore,  who  was  intro- 
duced to  the  Brotherhood  by  Woolner.  He  greatly  ad- 
mired Patmore's  poetry,  and  sent  him  a  cast  of  his  "  Puck  " 


[Photograph  by  II.  Dixon. 

THOMAS    WOOLNER,    FATHER    OF    THE    SCULPTOR 

From  a  drawing  by  T.  Woolner,  1842,  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Meadows. 


[To  face  page  7. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  7 

as  an  expression  of  his  admiration.      The  following  letter 
is  the  poet's  acknowledgment — 


Coventry  Patmore  to  Thomas  Woolner 

19,  Randolph  Street , 

April  20  [1849.] 

My  dear  Sir, 

Pray  receive  my  best  thanks  for  your  "  Puck."  I 
know  that  I  am  not  a  competent  judge  of  its  merits,  but 
I  know  also  that  it  gives  me  very  true  pleasure,  entirely 
apart  from  the  pleasure  it  gives  me  as  the  gift  of  so  sincere 
an  admirer  of  my  own  efforts  in  art.  I  will  not  run  the 
risk  of  making  you  doubt  the  satisfaction  I  take  in  con- 
templating your  work  by  endeavouring  to  analyse  my 
enjoyment.  I  was  charmed,  when  the  man  uncovered 
your  present,  to  find  that  it  was  the  product  of  a  grotesque 
fancy  in  harmony  with  the  modem  mind,  instead  of  being 
an  attempt  at  that  kind  of  beauty  in  which  it  seems  to  me, 
we  can  scarcely  hope  to  compare  with  the  Greeks.  Being 
constantly  haunted  with  the  idea  of  Greek  sculpture  when- 
ever I  visit  an  exhibition  of  modern  art  in  the  same  kind, 
you  cannot  think  what  a  strange  impression  of  vapidness 
and  impotence  I  receive  on  such  occasions.  But  your  little 
production  quite  satisfies  and  pleases  me,  for  it  is  the  best 
in  its  kind  that  I  have  seen — at  least,  such  is  my  unedu- 
cated judgment  of  it.  I  feel  confident  that  your  work 
will  grow  upon  me  :  I  write  late  at  night,  and  I  like  it  now 
three  times  as  much  as  I  did  at  the  beginning  of  the  even- 
ing— and  I  liked  it  then. 

Be  so  kind  as  to  drop  me  a  line  a  day  or  two  before 
you  are  coming,  as  I  am  just  now  often  engaged  out  of 
an  evening,  and  I  should  not  like  you  to  call  and  find 
me  away. 

Believe,  my  dear  Sir, 

Very  truly  yours 

Coventry  K.  Patmore. 

T.  Woolner,  Esq. 

Woolner  spent  part  of  the  autumn  of  1849  down  at 
Great  Mario w,  and  revelled  in  the  beauty  of  the  country 
after  being  shut  up  in  London. 


8  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Letter  from  T.  Woolner  to  William  Rossetti 

AT  Ventnor 

Mr.  Hohbesy 

"  George  <&;  Dragon,'''' 

near  Suspension  Bridge, 
Gt.  Marlow, 

October  2,  1849. 

My  dear  Poet, 

I  am  in  the  country  at  last  and  a  most  glorious 
country  it  is ;  I  took  a  walk  this  morning  amidst  the  most 
delightful  scene  I  ever  witnessed.  Gigantic  juniper  trees 
with  most  quaint  aspects,  grand  old  white  thorns  clam- 
bered over  with  woodbine  &  deadly  nightshade,^  fern 
red  and  green,  forests  thick  with  trees  &  underwood 
extending  for  many  miles,  and  as  solemn  as  even  a  poet 
could  wish.  I  should  like  you  to  be  here  and  see  all  this 
beauty.  .  .  .  Remember  this  is  the  country  of  the  divine 
Shelley  :  I  met  an  old  gentleman  yesterday  who  knew  him, 
he  says  he  once  met  Shelley  coming  from  an  adjacent  wood 
with  his  hat  surrounded  by  some  sort  of  weed  resembling 
ivy ;  I  dare  say  Shelley  thought  if  no  one  else  would  crown 
him  he  would  crown  himself.  I  will  not  say  a  word  about 
business.  ...  I  am  down  here  for  pleasure. 

Thomas  Woolner. 
W.  M.  Rossetti  K 

The  extract  from  the  next  letter  to  W.  Rossetti,  written 
the  same  autumn,  is  evidenttly  in  answer  to  requests  for 
more  information  about  the  poet  Shelley — 

Gt.  Marlow, 

[Autumn,  1849.] 

I  am  sorry  to  say  I  can  get  no  information  about  the 
Divine  [Shelley].  I  only  hear  he  was  always  reading  large 
books,  and  walking  in  a  large  wood  near  here,  in  which  I 
often  walk  on  purpose  to  think  about  Shelley.  Such  a 
wood,  Mon  Dieu  !  without  exception  the  finest  wood  I  was 
ever  in,  filled  with  the  most  delightful  breaks,  thro' 
which  you  see  the  placid  river  gliding  along  ''  like  a  sweet 
thought  in  a  dream."  This  is  as  true  as  possible  &  not 
mere  poetry  (the  quotation  I  mean).  The  leaves  are  as  tender 

1  This  is  an  error.  Probably  what  he  meant  was  the  woody  nightshade 
{Solanum  dulcamara). 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS  9 

as  the  first  flush  of  spring  shows  them,  in  consequence  of 
the  thickness  of  foliage. 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Woolner  was  not  quite  twenty-four  at  this  time — his 
love  of  the  country  was  always  great,  and  he  is  continually 
regretting  in  later  days  being  obliged  to  live  in  London,^ 
although  he  realized  it  was  necessary  for  a  Sculptor.  Two 
lines  from  his  own  poem  express  his  feeling — 

"  It  makes  them  quit  a  happy  sylvan  life 
For  contest  in  the  roaring  capital." 

My  Beautiful  Lady. 

Woolner  modelled  a  medallion  of  the  wife  of  Coventry 
Patmore  ("  The  Angel  ")  in  1850,  and  the  poet  wrote  : 
"  The  more  I  look  at  your  medallion  of  my  wife  the  more  I 
admire  it  and  the  more  I  feel  the  great  obligation  you 
have  put  me  under  in  doing  it." 

In  January,  1850,  was  published  the  first  number  of  a 
magazine  of  high  ideals  called  The  Germ,  brought  out 
by  the  members  of  the  P.R.B.  It  had  but  a  brief 
career — only  four  numbers  being  issued.  In  the  first  number 
some  of  the  chief  contributions  were  "  My  Beautiful  Lady," 
"  My  Lady  in  Death,"  by  Woolner,  with  a  very  remarkable 
frontispiece  to  illustrate  the  poem  by  W.  Holman  Hunt. 
Woolner  also  wrote  two  short  poems  for  the  magazine. 

Another  poet  introduced  by  Woolner  to  his  P.R.B. 
friends  was  William  Allingham,  and  in  a  letter  to  him  dated 
November  8,  1850,  he  writes — 

Most  of  the  P.R.Bs.  have  been  at  7  oakes  painting 
backgrounds  to  their  next  year's  pictures.  Hunt  has 
succeeded  in  a  remarkable  manner  with  his,  he  has  given 
the  effect  of  a  large  rough  forest  on  a  small  space  better 
than  ever  I  remember  to  have  seen  it  done  before.  I  am 
glad  to  hear  from  W.  Rossetti  that  you  liked  his  review 
on  your  poems ;  he  bids  fair  to  be  one  of  our  best  in  the 
review  line — he  takes  more  pains  to  discover  the  author's 
intention  and  less  to  display  his  own  learning  than  most 
journalists. 

1  "  The  Voice  of  Duty." 


10  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Woolner  was  expected  to  join  the  forest  painters  and  was 
censured  for  his  non-appearance  in  the  following  amusing 
note  sent  by  D.  G.  Rossetti  and  addressed  to — 

Thomas  Woolner, 

101  Stanhope  Street.  j 

P.  R.  B. 

At  the  town  of  Sevenoakes  :    County  oj  Kent) 
This  27th  day  of  October  1850 

Resolved 
by  us  the  undersigned  : 

1st.  That  the  conduct  of  Thomas  Woolner  P.R.B.  in 
failing  to  come  hither  on  Thursday  was  ill-advised. 

2nd.  That  the  conduct  of  Thomas  Woolner  P.R.B.  in 
failing  to  come  hither  on  this  present  Saturday  calls  for 
explanation,  if  not  for  apology. 

3rd.  That  the  conduct  of  Thomas  Woolner  P.R.B. 
should  he  fail  to  come  hither  on  the  Thursday  or  Saturday 
next  ensuing  will  be  wholly  unjustifiable. 

(Signed)  W.  Holman  Hunt, 

Frederic  G.  Stephens, 
Dante  G.  Rossetti. 

Further  Resolutions 

1st.     That  the  sonnet  has  thirteen  lines. 
2nd.     That  sensuality  is  a  meanness  repugnant  to  youth 
and  disgusting  in  age,  a  degradation  at  all  times. 

3rd.     That  who  will  may  hear  Sordello's  story  told. 

This  little  note  in  1850  confirms  the  position  of  F.  G. 
Stephens  as  one  of  the  early  members  of  the  Brotherhood, 
about  which  fact  there  has  been  some  discussion. 

It  was  in  the  autumn  of  this  year  Woolner  had  the  pleasure 
of  visiting  Tennyson,  whose  acquaintance  he  made  as  early 
as  1848. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  11 

The  Tennysons  were  staying  at  Coniston,  and  there 
Woolner  during  his  visit  modelled  a  medallion  of  the 
Laureate — with  which  later  on  he  became  dissatisfied ;  and 
after  his  return  from  Australia  he  modelled  another,  the 
well-known  one,  1856,  which  decorates  as  frontispiece  the 
volume  of  Te-nnyson's  poems  illustrated  by  the  P.R.B.  and 
others,  and  published  in  1857. 

In  a  letter  from  Devonshire  to  Mrs.  Tennyson  in  January 
1851  he  says,  referring  to  this  first  medallion  : — 

"  You  quite  mistake  in  supposing  that  I  have  gone  to  any 
expense  and  trouble  on  your  account ;  it  would  be  unjust 
on  my  part  to  allow  you  to  think  so,  for  I  have  been  gratify- 
ing my  own  feelings  of  admiration  entirely  in  whatever  I 
have  done  with  regard  to  the  medallion,  and  I  am  wholly 
indebted  to  your  gracious  kindness  in  permitting  me  to  visit 
you  at  Coniston  and  doing  so.  Tell  Mr.  Tennyson  that  I 
sent  a  cast  to  Mrs.  Fletcher  as  he  desired — pray  remember 
me  in  the  kindest  way  to  the  divine  man." 

In  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Fletcher  from  Ambleside,  dated 
January  6,  1851,  she  writes  :  "  A  few  days  ago  I  had  the 
very  great  pleasure  to  receive  your  excellent  medallion  of 
Alfred  Tennyson,  and  I  beg  you  to  accept  my  best  thanks 
for  this  noble  specimen  of  your  beautiful  art.  It  is  con- 
sidered by  all  who  have  seen  it  an  admirable  likeness. 
You  have  happily  caught  the  expression  of  your  subject. 
It  was  a  remark  of  Samuel  Coleridge,  which  I  once  heard 
repeated  by  Dr.  Chalmers,  that  '  all  men  of  genius  had  a 
feminine  expression  of  countenance.'  I  was  reminded  of 
this  observation  by  your  medallion,  for  though  the  forehead 
is  pre-eminently  masculine,  the  lower  part  of  the  face  is 
full  of  tenderness  and  pity." 

Woolner  had  immense  admiration  for  Thomas  Carlyle 
and  Mrs.  Carlyle,  and  was  anxious  to  do  a  medallion  of  the 
great  writer ;  and  through  the  kindness  of  Coventry  Patmore, 
who  persuaded  Carlyle  to  sit,  he  was  able  to  satisfy  his 
desire.  In  a  letter  of  January,  1851,  Patmore  tells  Woolner 
the  good  results  of  his  efforts  on  his  behalf. 


12  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Coventry  Patmore  to  T.  Woolner 

January  11,  1851 
My  dear  Woolner, 

I  went  to  Mr.  Carlyle's  on  Wednesday  about  the 
medallion  :  and  I  am  glad  to  say  succeeded  in  my  mission. 
He  seemed  a  little  doubtful  as  to  whether  it  would  take  too 
much  of  his  time,  but  I  told  him  I  thought  you  could  do 
it  in  about  four  sittings  of  a  couple  of  hours — about  the  time 
mine  took.  Mrs.  Carlyle  wishes  to  have  a  cast  of  Tennyson. 
If  you  like,  I  will  send  her  mine,  as  it  may  be  a  good  while 
before  you  can  get  another  finished  up.     Write  and  say. 

Yours  faithfully, 

C.  K.  Patmore. 

The  following  May  Carlyle  wrote  from  Chelsea  to  the 
sculptor. 

Thomas  Carlyle  to  T.  Woolner 

Chelsea, 

May  21,  1851. 
Dear  Sir, 

If  you  will  come  to  us,  to  tea,  on  Monday  night 
(the  old  hour)  I  have  good  hopes  of  producing  Mr.  Ruskin 
for  you.  Unluckily,  however,  it  is  not  quite  positive.  Mr. 
R.  is  out  of  town  and  not  absolutely  certain  to  be  back 
before  Monday ;  but  my  Wife  will  write  to  you  early  that 
day  if  things  turn  in  the  negative,  so  if  you  hear  nothing 
farther,  come  along  :  If  you  do  hear,  I  expect  it  will  be  the 
proposal  of  some  new  evening  for  the  object  in  question. 
The  Medallion  is  favourably  hung  up;  and  excites  the 
approbation  of  a  discerning  public — as  it  deserves  to  do. 

Yours  always  truly, 

T.  Carlyle. 

During  a  great  part  of  the  spring  of  1851  Woolner  had 
much  correspondence  with  Dr.  Davy  about  the  medallion 
of  Wordsworth  modelled  for  Grasmere  Church.  Dr.  Davy 
was  in  charge  of  the  funds  for  the  memorial  subscribed  to 
by  friends  and  admirers,  and  much  consideration  was 
given  and  many  letters  written,  as  to  the  best  and  most 
suitable  epitaph  for  the  medallion  tablet.  Tennyson  was 
asked  for  his  opinion,  which  he  sent  in  a  letter  to  Woolner 
dated  March  10,  1851. 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS  13 

March  10  [1851]. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  had  rather  let  Dr.  Davy  have  his  own  way  but 
since  he  &  you  require  an  opinion,  look  here  is  an  epitaph 
on  the  Duke  of  Wellington. 

To  the  memory 
of  the  Duke  of 

Wellington 

who  by  a  singular  calling  &  thro'  the  special  foresight  of 
Aim.  God  was  [raised]  up  to  be  the  safeguard  of  the  greatest 
people  in  the  world — who  possessing  the  greatest  military 
genius  wh.  the  world  &c.  won  the  battles  of  Waterloo  &c. 
&c.  &c.  &c. — who  was  equally  great  in  statesmanship  as  he 
was  &c.     Now  look  here,  do  not  the  very  words 

Duke  of  Wellington 
involve  all  this  ? 

Is  Wordsworth  a  great  poet  ?  Well  then  don't  let  us  talk 
of  him  as  if  he  were  half  known. 

To  the  Memory 

of 

William  Wordsworth 

The  Great  Poet. 

Even  that  seems  too  much  but  certainly  is  much  better 
than  the  other,  far  nobler  in  its  simplicity. 

My  dear  Woolner,  I  wd.  have  answered  you  sooner  but 
your  letter  did  not  know  where  to  find  me. 

Ever   yours 

A.  Tennyson. 

I  am  leaving  this  place  [Park  House,  Maidstone]  to-day 
&  going  if  I  can  to  a  house  in  Twickenham. 

I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that  you  have  got  work  to  do. 
My  wife  desires  her  kindest  regards. 

But  the  grand  simplicity  of  the  suggestion  was  not 
adopted,  it  was  considered  too  severe,  and  a  somewhat 
lengthy  inscription  was  decided  upon,  and  this  was  cut 
into  the  marble  above  the  medallion,  and  in  August,  1851, 
the  monument  was  in  its  place  in  Grasmere  Church.  Next 
year  besides  the  medal  "  England  rewards  Agriculture," 
exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy,  Woolner  made  his  design 


14  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

competing  for  the  Wordsworth  Monument — a  seated 
figure  of  the  poet,  with  a  bas-reHef  of  Peter  Bell  and  the 
Ass  set  in  the  pedestal,  and  a  group  of  two  figures  on 
either  side  :  The  Father  admonishing  his  son ;  the  Mother 
guiding  her  daughter  to  observe  the  beauties  of  nature. 
And  although  this  design  was  very  highly  praised  Woolner 
failed  to  gain  the  commission,  and  he  was  so  disappointed 
he  determined  to  leave  England ;  like  so  many  at  that 
time,  he  felt  a  desire  to  try  his  luck  at  the  Australian  gold- 
fields,  in  order,  as  he  hoped,  to  get  money  to  carry  out  his 
ideas  in  sculpture  and  do  ideal  works. 

Several  of  his  friends  went  to  see  him  off  in  July  at 
Gravesend ;  amongst  them  was  Ford  Madox  Brown,  whose 
picture,  "  The  Last  of  England,"  was  inspired  by  the  sight 
of  seeing  his  friend  Thomas  Woolner  leave  for  Australia. 
The  sculptor  went  well  equipped  for  digging  with  two 
friends,  Bernhard  Smith  and  Edward  Latrobe  Bateman, 
nephew  of  the  Governor  of  Victoria,  both  being  bent  on 
the  same  adventure. 

They  sailed  from  Plymouth  on  July  24,  1852,  by  the 
ship  Windsor,  and  reached  Port  Phillip,  Victoria,  on 
October  27  of  the  same  year. 


:''-^-    .r  xB^„ 


{Photograph  by  11.  Dixon. 

CARICATURE    OF    THOMAS    WOOLNER    WHEN    A    YOUTH    IN    BEHNE's 

STUDIO 


\To  face  page  14. 


CHAPTER  II 

During  the  voyage  to  Australia  Woolner  kept  a  log/ 
and  this  was  sent  on  his  arrival  in  Australia  to  his  P.R.B. 
friends  and  his  relations  in  London  to  read.  It  was  very 
interesting  and  gave  entertaining  accounts  of  his  ship 
companions  and  beautiful  descriptions  of  sunsets  and  sea 
effects. 

A  letter  to  his  father,  dated  August  21, 1852,  ship  Windsor, 
gives  a  good  idea  of  a  sea  journey  in  a  sailing  vessel  in  the 
'fifties  and  how  he  spent  his  time  on  board. 

T.  Woolner  to  His  Father  T.  Woolner 

L54  N.  Latitude.  Ship  "  Windsor;' 

August  21,  1852. 
My  dear  Father, 

As  you  will  perceive  by  the  latitude  above,  we  are 
now  very  near  the  line,  and  as  that  or  near  there  is  the  place 
where  ships  are  most  frequently  fallen  in  with,  I  take  the 
opportunity  if  it  should  occur  of  letting  you  know  I  am  in, 
not  the  land  of  the  living,  but  still  alive  and  I  may  say  kick- 
ing, for  there  is  scarcely  any  rest  to  be  had  on  deck  for 
moving  here  and  there  out  of  the  way  of  sailors,  who  are 
continually  tugging  at  the  ropes  or  scrubbing  or  sweeping, 
etc.  We  have  had  a  delightful  voyage  hitherto,  and  have 
been  becalmed  not  more  than  2  or  3  days  altogether  : 
this  is  where  calms  and  oppressive  heat  are  usually  expected, 
but  we  have  had  a  strong  breeze  for  more  than  a  week  tho' 
part  contrary,  and  the  sailors  say  they  never  knew  such  a 
wind  before. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

If  we  progress  as  well  as  we  have  done  we  shall  make  the 
journey  in  less  than  90  days  :  the  Windsor  did  the  voyage 
in  that  time  the  last  she  made.  We  have  plenty  to  do  in 
the  way  of  work  and  amusement.     I  rise  at  6  a.m.,  bathe, 

^  This  log  has  been  destroyed. 
15 


16  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

fetch  our  day's  allowance  of  water,  walk  till  breakfast,  8, 
then  we  wash  our  cups,  plates  and  traps,  go  on  deck,  read 
or  look  at  the  sea  till  dinner,  which  with  me  is  generally  rice 
or  preserved  potatoes  or  pudding  :  they  have  capital  soups 
and  fish  and  very  good  meat  tho'  I  seldom  touch  either; 
after  dinner  the  plates  have  to  be  washed  again.  This 
washing  is  one  of  the  greatest  nuisances  we  have.  I  then 
write  some  to  my  journal  and  read  till  tea.  Then  the  wash- 
ing. Go  on  deck  to  watch  the  sunset  and  smoke  a  pipe, 
then  chatting  and  lounging  about  till  10  p.m.,  then  turn  in. 
The  sunsets  are  splendid,  larger  and  grander  than  are  seen 
on  land  because  there  is  nothing  to  interfere  with  the  colors. 
We  see  shoals  of  flying  fish,  they  resemble  flocks  of  sparrows 
in  the  distance.     Two  came  on  board  about  a  fortnight  ago. 

•  ••••• 

On  a  dull  day  the  sea  looks  like  molten  lead,  but  when  the 
sky  is  clear  it  is  the  deepest  and  most  beautiful  blue  can 
possibly  be  imagined;  sometimes  in  the  evening  it  is  like 
copper  coated  with  verdigris,  with  occasional  touches  of  the 
bright  metal.  At  night  as  the  prow  of  the  vessel  drives  the 
foam  forward  it  shines  with  phosphorescent  fire  and  looks 
as  if  the  ocean  itself  would  soon  be  ablaze.  It  is  very 
amusing  to  hear  the  different  conjectures  upon  it ;  whales, 
dolphins,  porpoises  and  grampuses  have  been  seen,  but  only 
one  shark,  which  the  sailors  nearly  caught,  the  beast  slipt 
off  the  hook  as  they  were  drawing  him  up.  I  did  not  see 
the  fun  for  it  happened  in  the  night  and  I  was  in  my  berth. 

The  men  make  as  much  fuss  dressing  on  Sundays  as  if 
they  were  going  to  strut  about  the  streets  to  show  them- 
selves off  or  going  to  see  their  sweethearts;  the  captain 
reads  prayers  in  state,  a  flag  is  spread  over  the  capstan  and 
he  stands  there  and  fires  away.  I  have  the  greatest  respect 
for  prayer  time  because  the  people  go  on  the  upper  deck 
and  leave  our  place  pleasantly  quiet  :  this  is  the  only  time 
I  can  write  with  any  comfort  &  a  few  others  feel  the  same 
for  they  generally  begin  also. 

We  have  the  queerest  set  of  fellows  on  board  imaginable, 
many  seem  about  as  fit  for  digging  as  they  are  to  be  Prime 
Ministers  :  some  have  spent  their  time  hitherto  in  doing 
scarcely  anything  but  drinking,  the  consequence  has  been 
innumerable  rows  disturbing  every  one  else.  They  are 
stopped  for  several  days  for  the  steward  is  not  permitted 
to  sell  spirits  till  we  are  some  distance  from  the  hue,  as  the 
sailors  might  get  drunk  and  endanger  the  ship's  safety. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  17 

I  wish  I  had  known  before  starting  what  I  do  now — 
instead  of  preserved  meats  nothing  should  have  been  put 
into  my  hampers  but  marmalades  and  other  fruits.  The 
few  jams  I  brought  from  home  have  been  a  godsend  to  me. 

•  ••••• 

I  find  those  hot  peppers  come  in  well  you  gave  me,  the 
vinegar  they  give  us  plentifully,  we  put  it  in  the  pea  soup. 
The  lime  juice  is  one  of  the  best  things  we  have,  I  drink 
nothing  but  that  mixed  with  water  and  sugar,  and  my 
tea.  .  .  .  We  found  the  steward  cheated  us  of  about  one 
third  of  our  flour,  now  we  insist  on  having  it  weighed  every 
Tuesday,  and  everything  else  we  care  for  we  weigh. 

The  steward  is  a  thorough  humbug.  He  charges  1/6  per 
pound  for  common  cheese,  ditto  for  ham  and  other  things 
in  the  same  proportion ;  he  is  an  ugly  little  brute  and  looks 
like  a  baboon  grinning.  The  sailors  did  not  tar  and  feather 
anybody,  for  they  all  became  so  drunk  the  night  before  the 
ceremony  was  to  come  off  the  captain  put  a  stop  to  it. 
One  Mr.  Fox  had  a  scolding  for  giving  grog  to  the  men.  We 
have  lost  the  fun. 


Monday,  October  4.— Long.  82°  35'  E.;  Lat.  39°  1'15''. 

We  are  within  a  fortnight  or  a  little  more  sail  of  Port 
Phillip  and  have  fallen  in  with  no  homeward  bound  vessel  : 
as  far  as  we  have  come  the  voyage  has  been  delightful. 
Sailors  say  they  never  knew  anything  like  it  during  their 
experience ;  it  has  been  neither  very  hot  nor  cold  but  much 
about  the  temperature  of  England  in  different  seasons.  I 
will  say  nothing  of  particulars  or  people  here  for  I  have  kept 
a  careful  journal  of  everything  I  thought  worth  noting.  The 
characters  of  some  of  our  neighbours  I  think  will  amuse 
you.  I  have  given  short  descriptions  of  the  sea  when  it  was 
more  beautiful  or  threatening  than  usual,  and  all  the  glori- 
ous sunsets  there  have  been,  effects  of  moonlight,  etc.,  so 
you  will  be  able  to  gather  an  exact  idea  of  what  our  journey 
has  been  by  reading  it.  Bateman  will  be  sending  a  packet 
to  Mrs.  Howitt  and  you  will  receive  it  through  her  I  believe. 
He  intends  making  a  copy  of  it  himself  for  to  be  sent  to 
London  and  lent  to  the  P.R.B.'s  and  others  of  my  friends ; 
yet  you  had  better  not  lend  it  to  any  one  when  you  get  it 
or  else  it  will  be  lost  to  a  dead  certainty.  Bernhard  wants 
his  brother  to  see  it.  Let  him  have  it  for  a  fixed  time,  say  a 
week  or  fortnight. 


18  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

I  will  wait  till  I  arrive  at  Port  Phillip,  then  say  if  any- 
thing has  occurred  and  post  this. 

•  ••••• 

Dr.  Godfrey  Howitt, 

Melbourne,  October  28. 

I  am  here,  safe  at  last.  We  left  the  Windsor  by  steam- 
boat on  Monday,  25th  inst.  I  am  staying  at  the  above 
address  and  receive  every  kindness  possible  for  a  human 
being  to  have  from  another.  The  Howitts  are  delightful 
people  and  live  exactly  like  rich  people  do  in  England. 
Bateman  sleeps  at  his  Excellency's,  Mr.  Latrobe's,  to  give 
more  convenience  to  us.  We  have  to  dine  with  that  great 
man  to-day  :  he  wants  to  know  me  because  Bateman 
found  that  my  little  figure  of  Red  Riding  Hood  was  one  of 
his  favorite  ornaments  &  told  him  that  I  did  it  :  he  says 
T  must  not  leave  the  Colony  without  doing  something  in  the 
fine  arts  first  :  we  hope  to  get  much  valuable  information 
from  him,  but  the  diggings  by  all  I  learn  is  by  no  means  a 
certain  affair  as  to  realizing  a  fortune,  tho'  many  do  :  num- 
bers return  without  paying  their  expenses  and  those  who 
are  successful  squander  it  in  most  disgraceful  manner. 
Everything  is  very  dear,  the  luxuries  none  but  triumphant 
diggers  can  purchase — fancy  an  ordinary  cauliflower  3/6 
and  all  suchlike  things  in  proportion  ! 

The  commonest  labourers  get  4  pounds  per  week; 
others  1  pound  per  day  :  but  living  is  terrifically  expensive. 
Dr.  Howitt's  household  expenses  are  4  times  what  they 
were  before  the  discovery  of  the  gold  and  any  man  who  has 
strong  shoulders  will  get  employment  that  will  pay  them 
well.  I  have  no  time  to  give  you  a  full  account  of  the  coun- 
try, the  people  or  anything  in  detail  but  merely  scrawl  this 
down  hastily  to  say  I  am  here  :  when  I  have  been  a  short 
time  at  the  diggings  you  shall  have  a  more  lengthened 
account  of  things  there,  for  they  are  the  only  objects  of 
interest  just  now  and  what  most  concern  me.  One  can 
scarcely  tell  without  looking  closely  he  is  not  in  England. 
Everything  seems  arranged  much  in  the  same  way  :  the 
people  are  the  chief  difference.  They  mostly  wear  beards, 
carry  firearms  and  are  immensely  independent  :  they  dress 
something  like  the  prints  you  have  seen  of  red  French 
Republicans,  much  of  that  loose  air  and  swagger.  Bern- 
hard  desires  his  kind  regards  to  you,  he  is  wonderfully  well 
and  feels  quite  up  for  the  diggings.     We  are  now  going  to 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  19 

have  our  hair  cut,  it  has  grown  to  such  a  length  that  with 
our  beards  we  look  just  like  savages.  Our  friends  in  Eng- 
land would  not  know  us  I  think  in  our  rough  garb.  Do 
write  to  me  as  soon  as  you  can  directed  to  Dr.  Godfrey 
Howitt,  Melbourne. 

Give  my  kindest  love  to  Mother,  Helen  and  all  of  them 
and  say  how  delighted  I  shall  be  to  hear  news  of  them.  .  .  . 

Your  affectionate  son, 

Thomas   Woolner. 

As  Woolner  was  anxious  to  begin  digging  at  once  he  did 
not  remain  long  in  civilization.  He  stayed  at  the  hospitable 
house  of  Dr.  Godfrey  Howitt  in  Melbourne,  whence  he  writes 
October  31,  beginning  his  journal  of  the  gold-fields. 

[1852]  Sunday,  October  31. — I  am  in  Melbourne  at  the 
house  of  Dr.  Godfrey  Howitt  w^aiting  for  Tuesday  next  when 
I  expect  to  start  for  the  Ovens  Diggings.  .  .  .  We  have 
been  busy  making  arrangements  since  we  landed,  a  week 
to-morrow,  and  have  had  little  time  to  study  the  aspect  of 
things  here.  This  morning  I  did  a  little  to  a  sketch  of  Charley 
Howitt.  ...  I  fear  my  journal  will  not  be  so  regularly 
attended  to  in  my  journey  up  the  country  as  it  was  on 
board  the  Windsor,  after  a  hard  day's  march  a  mug  of  tea  and 
a  rest  will  have  more  seduction  than  pens  and  paper.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  The  price  of  things  here  would  seem  fabulous  if  not 
true.  Nature  and  Custom  are  topsy-turvy  in  this  country, 
the  reverse  of  England  :  day  and  springtime  here  when 
night  and  winter  there  :  here  the  trees  shed  their  bark  in- 
stead of  leaves,  vegetation  stops  in  mid  summer  and  cherries 
grow  with  their  stones  outside.  The  man  of  labor  only  buys 
the  luxuries  of  life,  and  servants  rule  their  masters  who  bow 
down  and  flatter  them  :  such  is  the  power  of  Gold.  .  .  . 

Monday,  November  1. — After  breakfast  I  went  into  the 
cottage  to  arrange  my  traps  :  my  bed  will  consist  of  a  piece 
of  green  baise,  one  blanket  and  a  waterproof  coat  to  place 
on  the  ground  as  a  protection  against  damp.  .  .  . 

I  finished  a  letter  to  Rossetti  which  Mrs.  Howitt  has 
kindly  enclosed  in  a  parcel  she  intends  sending  to  her  son 
in  England.  .  .  . 


20  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Tuesday,  November  2. — After  a  hard  day's  work  we  have 
left  Melbourne  and  are  encamped  at  a  village  3  miles  dis- 
tant ;  our  first  night  of  a  wandering  Hfe,  and  it  is  beautiful, 
surrounded  by  a  gorgeous  sky  and  on  one  side  by  mountains 
rich  in  color  :  the  village  people  and  quiet  oxen  move  about 
peacefully.  .  .  .  The  Howitts  took  a  most  affectionate 
leave ;  blessed  souls  those.  The  Austrahans  are  romantic 
in  hospitality.  .  .  . 

Wednesday,  November  3. — We  passed  thro'  a  splendid 
country  that  looked  hke  an  immense  park  left  to  decay 
and  run  wild  :  the  trees  stretch  and  shoot  in  sinuous, 
fantastic  growth,  some  felled,  others  tumbHng  to  ruin; 
the  ground  was  spangled  with  serene  Httle  wild  flowers  and 
graceful  grasses.  Mr.  Overman  shot  a  hzard.  The  skill 
in  managing  the  oxen  by  the  driver  was  extraordinary. 
This  will  be  my  second  night  of  sleeping  in  the  open  air.  .  .  . 

Friday,  November  5. — How  new  and  wild  the  sensation 
is  of  bathing  in  the  moist  air  at  sunrise  :  then  walking  and 
looking  at  the  quaintly  grown  gumtrees,  then  a  simple 
breakfast  on  the  grass,  our  arms  lying  near ;  then  packing 
up  and  loading  the  dray;  then  harnessing  or  yoking  the 
oxen,  then  the  cheerful  move  forward.  However  well  one 
feels  before  this  adds  to  his  pleasure  tenfold  :  the  whips 
snapping  Hke  rifle-shots,  the  energetic  cries  of  the  drivers 
the  patient,  enduring  and  hard-puUing  oxen;  the  new 
sights  rising  or  opening  before  us,  all  together  give  a  feeUng 
that  town-dwelHng  people  cannot  suppose.  .  .  .  We  see 
numbers  of  exquisite  parrots,  they  seem  as  if  the  green 
beauty  of  the  trees  were  condensed  into  winged  oval  shapes 
and  painted  with  sunset  colors.  The  sun  has  been  so  bright 
the  trees'  shadows  were  not  only  very  dark  but  Hterally 
seemed  to  soak  darkness  into  the  earth.  The  ants  are 
almost  I  think  quite  as  numerous  as  the  grassblades  one 
cannot  sit  on  any  place  in  the  country  without  sitting  on 
them,  and  some  have  a  great  faculty  for  stinging.  .  .  . 

Wednesday,  November  10. — We  fell  in  with  Mr.  Howitt's 
sons  and  Edward,  Dr.  Howitt's  son  :  he  is  a  calm-minded 
youth,  with  a  great  amount  of  knowledge  pertaining  to  the 
colony,  sound  reflection  and  gentleness ;   a  son  well  worthy 


smr 


"puck,"   1847 

From  the  plaster  model. 


[_To  face  page  21, 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  21 

of  such  noble  parents.  ...  I  gathered  a  handful  of  native 
cherries,  stones  outside ;  not  bad  :  saw  a  tree  on  fire  inside  ; 
wind  roared  up  it  like  what  it  was,  a  furnace ;  it  fell  with 
a  big  crash  and  shattering  in  unison  with  this  wild  scene  : 
everything  is  done  on  a  large  scale  here,  a  man  chops  down 
a  tree  to  boil  a  can  of  tea ;  chops  down  a  young  tree  for  the 
top  which  we  may  condescend  to  look  at  to  see  if  it  will  do 
for  a  whipstick  :  a  butcher  wonders  if  he  is  asked  for  less 
than  half  a  sheep  each  time.  I  and  the  Bs.  went  up  a  creek 
with  a  man  for  some  milk ;  the  man  asked  Bernhard  if  he 
would  sell  the  breeches  he  had  on.  .  .  . 

Friday,  November  12. — We  camped  early  to-day  at 
Honeysuckle  Creek  :  there  is  a  large  tavern  where  enormous 
prices  are  charged,  1/6  for  a  glass  of  bad  ale,  3/6  lb.  for 
common  cheese.  I  have  not  felt  well  since  I  caught  my 
cold,  but  weak  and  oppressed  :  the  bush-life  does  not  agree 
with  me  yet,  the  food  particularly,  no  vegetables  or  fruit  of 
any  kind,  not  even  bread  only  bad  rice  peppered  with  flies 
and  hard  biscuit  permeated  with  road-dust  :  not  good  fare. 
We  meet  many  people  returning  from  the  Ovens  who 
nearly  all  give  ill  news.     .  .  . 

Saturday,  November  13. — The  day  has  been  very  warm 
and  of  course  chokingly  dusty  :  this  is  bad,  but  the  greatest 
pest  we  have  to  withstand  is  the  common  domestic  fly  : 
these  pernicious  wretches  torment  the  day  from  dawn  to 
sundown  and  make  it  essential  to  wear  a  veil,  but  that 
afflicts  me  more  than  the  pesty  brutes  themselves,  rendering 
the  senses  smothered  with  closeness.  .  .  .  Our  marksmen 
often  shoot  parrots  of  lovely  plumage,  principally  of  the 
rosella  kind,  young  Pinchin  shot  a  white  cockatoo  last 
night  and  he  is  now  cooking  it  for  supper.  It  is  growing 
dark.  I  was  resting  under  a  gumtree  to-day  when  a  set  of 
rough  fellows  sat  beside,  and  after  jabbering  to  each  other 
some  time  one  began  to  quote  Tennyson,  mocking  some 
person  he  heard  quote  "  The  May  Queen." 

Monday,  November  15. — We  started  this  morning  after 
our  sabbath  rest  and  passed  the  Broken  River  :  we  halted 
at  a  tavern  called  the  Black  Swan,  the  drivers  wanted  their 
nobblers   I   suppose  :    I  saw  there  a  black  man  attiring 


22  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

himself,  performing  toilet  duties  with  grimaces  of  fastidious 
self-admiration  :  he  combed  his  thick  shock  of  wool  with 
some  pain  to  himself,  then  (smeared)  it  with  grease  and 
rubbed  some  fat  over  his  visage,  then  combed  again  twisting 
his  delight  into  hideous  leers ;  after  he  had  finished  I  told 
him  he  had  made  himself  look  very  pretty,  he  grinned  at  me 
in  ecstasy  and  asked  if  I  wanted  a  light  for  my  pipe.  At  the 
township  of  Broken  River  I  obtained  a  pint  of  milk  just 
warm  from  the  cow ;  it  was  a  soothing  draught  to  thirsting 
fatigue.  At  our  midday  halt  I  yarned  with  an  Adelaide 
man,  found  he  knew  Mrs.  Orme's  brothers  settled  there,  at 
least  he  knew  one.  .  .  . 

Tuesday,  November  16. — I  have  enjoyed  the  walk  more 
than  heretofore  which  has  been  thro'  country  where  the 
flat  is  considerably  broken  by  variety  of  broken  ground  :  it 
is  tedious  travelling,  a  dead  level,  trees  everywhere,  trees 
right  and  left,  trees  before  and  trees  behind,  boxed  in  with 
trees ;  I  feel  as  if  I  were  travelling  shut  up  in  a  basket.  A 
camp  scene  has  a  busy  and  wild  effect,  the  fires  blazing, 
meat  frying,  bullocks  being  unyoked,  snapping  of  whips, 
people  getting  their  traps  from  the  drays,  dogs  barking, 
guns  banging  away  in  all  directions  etc.  .  .  . 

Thursday,  November  18. — We  are  at  noon-halt  in  a  pretty 
spot  beside  a  river,  still  the  Wangaratta  I  believe  :  I 
walked  a  few  minutes  ago  along  the  dried  bed  of  a  swamp 
and  a  delicious  odor  rose  up  from  minute  lilac  star-flowers ; 
this  I  thought  extraordinary  for  such  an  unpoetic  country  : 
a  land  where  the  birds  cannot  sing,  nor  flowers  give  perfume, 
scarcely  :   a  land  without  fruit  or  vegetable.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  We  are  encamped  beside  a  little  creek  seven  miles 
from  the  diggings  :  there  is  the  battle-field  close  to  us  and 
we  shall  see  it  to-morrow ;  soon  after  discover  if  it  be  worth 
leaving  civiKzation  for  and  coming  16,000  m.  for,  and 
enduring  every  kind  of  annoyance  for  and,  in  short,  if  it 
be  a  good  speculation  we  have  made.  The  road  is  well 
filled  with  people  going  and  returning  from  the  diggings, 
most  give  bad  accounts,  some  middling  and  a  few  quite  good 
news  :  I  take  but  small  notice  of  either,  knowing  what  a 
vague  and  dishonest  thing  rumor  is.     We  shall  soon  know 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  23 

what  gold  seeking  is,  and  will  need  no  tongues  upon  the 
matter.  .  .  . 

Friday,  November  19. — We  started  late  this  morning,  it 
rained  hard.  I  saw  the  diggings  this  afternoon,  a  vigorous 
scene,  bustle  among  men,  the  earth  looks  as  if  an  earth- 
quake had  torn  it  up.  .  .  . 

Sunday,  November  21. — The  numerous  tents  scattered 
everywhere  give  me  the  notion  of  this  place  being  the  grand 
meeting  place  of  all  the  gipsies  on  the  earth,  all  the  men 
look  like  gipsies.  I  am  obliged  to  leave  off  writing  to  fetch  a 
sheep's  liver  for  the  dogs. 

We  went  this  afternoon  and  selected  two  spots  for  digging 
to  commence  upon  to-morrow  :  there  will  be  plenty  of  water 
to  take  out  as  they  are  just  beside  the  creek.  The  country 
round  here  is  magnificent  in  scenery  much  the  best  I  have 
seen.  .  .  .  Nearly  all  diggers  smoke,  they  go  to  any  one's 
fire  to  light  the  pipe  :  they  seem  a  tolerably  friendly  set, 
rough  enough,  coarse  as  brickdust,  but  nothing  more.  .  .  . 
This  digging  will  be  anything  but  dreaming  on  a  couch  of 
down  :  standing  up  to  and  over  our  knees  in  water,  and 
aching  with  labor  in  each  joint ;  the  strongest  and  most 
accustomed  are  thus,  so  that  beginners  need  not  expect  it 
will  be  better  with  them.  .  .  . 

Monday,  November  22. — Digging  for  gold  is  not  play. 
My  hand  trembles  so  much  I  can  scarcely  write.  I  have 
been  digging,  felling  trees,  barking  and  carrying  bark, 
baling  water  the  whole  day.  We  have  sunk  our  hole 
5ft.  deep ;  the  water  comes  in  fast  upon  us.  The  Pinchins 
are  admirable  workers,  first-rate  fellows.  This  has  been 
the  hardest  day's  mere  labor  I  ever  did.  The  creek  fills 
with  people  fast. 

Wednesday,  November  24. — I  wrote  nothing  yesterday,  I 
was  too  tired,  for  we  were  baling  out  water  and  barking  or 
digging  till  after  washing  several  dishfuls,  the  holes  proved 
of  no  worth,  only  two  or  three  specks  in  a  dishful.  We  gave 
them  up.  .  .  . 

Thursday,  November  25. — I  have  been  fossicking  and 
prospecting  all  day.   .  .  . 

Friday,  November  26. — We  have  been  working  hard  at  our 


24  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

hole  all  day,  and  I  think  it  contains  promise ;  it  has  one 
advantage,  dryness  :  the  wet  is  making  many  ill  with  vio- 
lent colds.  Our  hole  is  a  round  one,  and  some  old  miners 
were  looking  at  it  just  before  we  knocked  off  work  and 
praised  it  :  if  the  result  equal  the  striving  for  it  we  shall 
be  satisfied.  The  two  Pinchins  are  our  bulwarks  and  con- 
tain our  chief  strength  :    famous  workmen.  .  .  . 

Saturday,  November  27. — We  have  been  hard  at  work  all 
day ;  some  washed  clay  and  gravel  stuff  mixed  with  quartz  : 
we  got  as  much  gold  as  would  half  fill  the  shell  of  a  small 
hazel  nut  :  a  minute  quantity  to  satisfy  six  greedy  fellows  as 
we  are.  We  are  more  than  12  ft.  down,  much  lower  than  any 
around  us  :  experienced  diggers  think  it  a  likely  hole  :  we 
intend  following  it  to  the  bare  rock  if  possible.  I  begin  to 
use  the  pick  with  some  freedom  and  not  so  much  labor  to 
myself  as  at  first,  the  spade  and  shovel  are  easy  to  me, 
comparatively.  .   .  . 

Monday,  November  29. — We  have  been  hard  at  work 
among  the  rocks,  we  must  have  moved  tons  of  them  :  our 
fellows  are  short-seers  and  expect  every  day  if  they  work 
a  few  hours  to  clutch  reward, — expect  a  harvest  in  the 
evening  if  they  sow  in  the  morning.  I  could  only  give  half 
my  attention  to  work  for  the  other  half  was  employed  in  sus- 
taining the  drooping  spirits  of  the  mopers.    Nonentities.  .  .  . 

Tuesday,  November  30. — My  anticipations  are  considera- 
ably  moderated  since  I  began  digging,  now  I  see  no  very 
sparkling  fortune  in  the  future  :  soon  as  ever  I  get  a  little, 
enough  to  give  me  a  start  in  London,  I  am  off  to  a  certainty. 
The  chief  good  I  have  gained  at  present  is  a  keen  apprecia- 
tion of  civilized  comforts,  things  unknown  in  these  parts.  .  . 

Wednesday,  December  1. — Worked  all  the  morning;  after 
dinner  went  to  the  Ovens  for  our  licences ;  found  that 
Howitts  had  arrived,  could  not  find  them.     Dark. 

Thursday,  December  2. — Found  that  our  3  holes  would  not 
pay  for  washing;  struck  out  another  claim  in  a  line  with 
others  that  we  know  are  doing  tolerably,  and  another  near 
the  most  successful  spot  in  the  creek.  .  .  . 

Friday,  December  3. — I  have  been  hard  at  work  all  day, 
picking,  digging,  baling  and  prospecting.     Pinchin  and  I 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  25 

went  down  with  a  hole  this  morning  and  hit  the  rock  :  we 
have  not  yet  given  it  up;  next  we  struck  into  the  flat 
opposite  our  tent  but  found  the  water  came  in  at  about 
4 J  ft.  and  have  given  it  up  for  a  time ;  soon  after  we  began 
a  great  number  of  folks  came  to  see  and  talk  with  us  upon 
the  subject.  .  .  . 

Tuesday,  December  7. — I  was  hard  at  washing  and  rocking 
yesterday  :  we  did  pretty  well,  nothing  to  fall  into  rapture 
about.  To-day  I  have  been  sinking  next  our  old  claim 
which  we  have  now  worked  out.  .  .  . 

Thursday,  December  9. — This  day  I  have  been  sinking 
by  myself;  I  find  it  much  more  pleasant  to  work 
alone.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  Gold  digging  is  the  hardest  work  done  in  the  world ; 
all  classes  of  men  have  tried  it,  and  all  join  in  this  opinion. 
Every  one  works  for  the  golden  key  wherewith  to  unlock 
the  prison  gates  that  shut  them  from  freedom,  light  and 
human  growth,  and  strives  his  utmost  :  many  work  for 
these  harder  than  they  would  to  save  life  itself,  if  life  would 
want  these.  A  gold-digger  considers  his  w^ages  a  pound 
of  gold  per  week,  and  nothing  less. 

Friday,  December  10. — We  were  washing  in  the  morning 
and  got  about  10  or  11  oz.  After  dinner  the  party  broke 
up.  Pierce  &  BrowTi  together,  the  others  as  they  felt  in- 
clined. I  went  into  my  own  claim  and  have  been  picking 
thro'  cemented  granite  so  hard  it  breaks  and  bends  the 
pickaxe  :   I  have  hope  of  it. 

Murder  is  growing  frequent  in  this  district ;  one  poor 
murdered  man  was  buried  here  this  morning.  I  heard  of 
two  others  to-day. 

Saturday,  December  11. — H.  Pinchin  and  I  have  been 
working  in  a  claim  like  a  steam-engine  all  day  and  found  the 
stuff  not  worth  washing;  we  must  look  for  another  place 
to  strike  in  now.  .  .  . 

Four  of  the  rascals  connected  with  the  recent  murders  in 
this  district  were  taken  on  the  digging  this  afternoon  by  the 
police.  ...  A  man  was  murdered  in  his  tent  last  night, 
about  300  yds.  from  our  place  :  the  dogs  made  an  extraordi- 
nary noise  which  was  remarked  by  many  people  :   I  said  this 


26  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

morning  most  probably  it  was  caused  by  the  prowling  of 
some  villain  among  the  tents  groping  for  gain.  .  .  . 

Tuesday,  December  14. — We  are  on  the  march  again, 
bound  for  the  Devil's  River  diggings ;  we  have  just  camped 
where  we  made  the  mid-day  halt  Nov.  17  about  16  miles 
from  the  Ovens  diggings.  Yesterday  at  noon  Mr.  Graves 
came  in  our  tent  and  said  whoever  wanted  to  accompany 
him  to  the  Devil's  River  must  pack  up  and  be  ready  in 
2  or  3  hours ;  I  was  sorry  to  start  so  suddenly  but  there 
was  no  help.  ... 

Wednesday,  December  15. — We  came  10  m.  to-day  and 
found  Bateman  and  party  at  last  :  we  learned  that  Mr. 
Howitt  had  been  dangerously  ill  but  he  is  well  now  :  they 
are  off  to  the  Spring  Creek  diggings  partly  to  see  them  and  to 
obtain  their  parcel  of  letters  from  Mr.  Smythe  which  con- 
tains two  for  me.  I  am  burningly  anxious  for  these  letters, 
I  want  to  know  how  my  friends  in  England  are.  Bateman 
looks  pretty  well,  rather  worn  I  fancied.  We  have  lost 
half  a  day  thro'  rain  :  most  of  our  party  are  fishing  in  the 
Wangaratta  river,  about  a  mile  from  the  township.  Last 
night  there  was  a  gorgeous  lightning  storm,  thunder  rolled 
round  the  night  in  hard,  metallic  crashes  and  rain  fell  and 
cooled  the  air.  .  .  Sometimes  the  thought  comes  in  me  like 
a  death-chill,  that  I  shall  never  see  England  again. 

Thursday,  December  16. — We  are  encamped  for  the  night 
in  a  swampy  place  15  m.  from  Wangaratta  :  a  very  decent 
day's  march.  ...  It  has  been  a  very  pleasant  tramp  all 
day ;  we  crossed  the  Ovens  in  a  punt  at  about  8  a.m.  and 
halted  2  hours  at  noon,  one  of  the  most  azure  noons  I  ever 
gazed  on,  the  leaves  shook  and  shone  against  the  sky,  and 
the  forest  glowed,  soaked  with  sun  throughout  every 
fibre.  .  .  . 

Saturday,  December  18. — Yesterday  was  my  birthday  and 
I  intended  to  have  written  it  an  azure  day,  for  it  had  been 
a  long  and  delightful  journey  from  our  last  camping  place 
to  the  Broken  River  where  we  are  staying,  till  the  evening 
brought  horror  and  grief  to  all  of  us  :  several  of  us  went  to 
bathe  in  the  river,  the  Pinchins  were  the  first  who  entered 
and  after  sporting  awhile  Henry  went  out  of  his  depth  and 


I 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  27 

lost  balance.  Bernhard  swam  towards  him  but  could  not 
support  him  against  the  strong  current  and  to  save  himself 
he  was  obliged  to  let  go  :  I  saw  Pinchin's  face  rise  to  the 
surface  for  a  second  after  this  and  saw  it  no  more  :  Bern- 
hard's  face  as  he  swam  to  the  bank  was  quite  white  :  Mr. 
Graves  hovered  about  the  spot  some  time  in  hopes  he  would 
rise  again,  but  it  w^as  not  to  be.  His  death  sent  a  stun  thro' 
our  party,  it  seemed  as  if  some  hand  had  reached  and 
snatched  him  from  us.  Two  men  dived  for  half  an  hour  in 
search  of  the  body  but  could  find  nothing  of  him.  Poor 
Joseph  is  crushed  down  by  this  great  affliction ;  they  were 
most  loving  brothers,  no  two  could  love  each  other  more. 
We  have  been  dragging  the  river  all  the  morning  but  to 
no  purpose  :  a  black  woman  was  diving  for  a  long  time  but 
could  not  find  him.  Now  we  are  in  a  very  unsettled  state 
and  know  not  what  to  do. 

Sunday,  December  19. — We  left  Benalla  on  the  Broken 
River  this  morning  after  having  arranged  with  the  authori- 
ties of  the  place  for  the  burial  of  poor  Henry  :  the  Broken 
River  is  a  place  few  of  us  wull  forget.  We  passed  thro'  coun- 
try to-day  that  was  like  a  continuous  pleasure-ground,  so 
beautifully  patched  with  shrubs  and  trees  and  broken  with 
hills  and  creeks ;  we  came  to  a  shepherd's  hut  that  was  in  a 
spot  which  might  by  labor  be  turned  into  a  paradise  :  the 
man's  wife  and  family  were  there,  it  had  something  wild 
and  comfortable  in  aspect,  one  little  girl  was  swinging,  a 
graceful  little  creature.  I  will  make  a  bas-relief  of  her  when 
I  get  back  to  England  and  the  fine  arts.  The  place  we 
are  camped  in  is  the  most  beautiful  we  have  seen  and  the 
wildest  :  the  big  white  gumtrees  are  dropping  their  manna 
now,  luscious  morsels  with  the  flavor  of  almonds,  and  the 
great  white  cockatoos  and  rosellas  screech  and  scream 
about.  .  .  . 

Monday,  December  20. — The  colors  of  sunset  are  sober 
but  infinitely  varied;  wild  cranes  are  showing  their  grey 
bodies  to  the  light,  a  little  quail  has  now  passed  by  me  on 
the  grass  by  the  creek,  so  near  I  could  almost  reach  it.  .  .  . 

Tuesday,  December  21. — We  are  at  noon-halt  in  a  hollow 
between  immense  mountain  ranges  and  where  creeks  and 


28  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

gullies  join  :  we  started  in  fair  time  this  morning  :  the 
journey  has  been  thro'  country  more  and  more  wild,  some- 
times mystic  shadows  and  vapors  hung  over  the  hollows. 
Our  folks  are  busy  plucking  ducks  and  doves  which  they 
succeeded  in  slaying  to-day,  intending  to  make  a  meal  : 
these  doves  are  lovely  creatures,  their  legs  and  feet  crimson, 
on  the  wings  are  some  of  the  most  splendid  touches  of 
richness  I  ever  saw ;  the  colors  literally  seem  to  burn  as  if 
they  had  been  plated  by  fire ;  underneath  the  wings  it  is 
a  warm,  soft  fawn  color. 

We  are  encamped  for  the  night,  which  we  had  to  do 
rather  prematurely  thro'  the  dray  getting  stuck  in  a  creek  : 
the  dray  was  unloaded  before  it  could  be  freed;  this  was 
the  second  day  we  had  to  unload  and  the  second  time  of 
being  stuck  to-day  :  we  have  had  to  pass  innumerable 
creeks  and  gullies  in  this  short  journey.  It  is  a  beautiful 
spot  we  are  at ;  a  creek  runs  three  parts  round  big  as  a 
young  river,  a  line  of  grand  purple  mountains  surround 
it ;  its  waters  are  haunted  by  wildfowl,  the  marshes  are 
dangerous  with  waterholes  :  the  ground  is  clearer  than  I 
have  seen  before  for  any  space  in  this  great  wood  country. 
Men  of  sport  would  run  crazy  to  be  in  such  a  place  as  this, 
for  there  is  no  end  of  objects  to  practise  on,  pigeons, 
plovers,  quails,  curlews  and  all  kinds  of  suchlike  :  not 
many  of  our  gang  are  good  at  shooting,  indeed  I  may  say 
none,  or  we  might  live  as  far  as  game  goes  most  voluptu- 
ously. Two  ugly  blacks  paid  us  a  visit  to-night,  they 
came  in  a  most  stealthy  way,  which  is  natural  to  the  animal 
I  suppose. 

Wednesday,  December  22. — We  are  making  halt  by  a  large 
lagoon  covered  with  rushes  and  filled  with  wildfowl  :  our 
sportsmen  have'just  shot  two  teal  and  great  preparations  are 
going  forward  for  a  grand  attack.  Plummer  is  the  most 
inveterate  gunner  but  somehow  he  succeeds  not  altogether 
well  :  just  now  it  was  sport  to  see  Overman  rush  madly 
in  the  water  after  a  creature  he  had  winged.  Our  journey 
is  still  accompanied  by  the  purple  ranges,  one  near  us 
rises  abruptly  rather  conical,  covered  as  most  of  them  are 
by  trees.     We  have  been  stuck  again,  and  it  took  a  great 


[Photograph  by  Houghton^  Margate. 
DESIGN    FOR    THE    WORDSWORTH    MONUMENT,     1852 


\_To  face  page  28, 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  29 

deal  of  digging,  lever-using,  bullock-thrashing  and  swearing 
to  get  us  out.  We  were  stuck  3  times  yesterday,  not  twice 
only  as  I  said.  We  must  be  within  8  or  9  m.  of  our  des- 
tination :  the  place  where  the  diggers  have  worked  on  the 
Devil's  River  is  called  "  Hell's  Hole,"  a  curious  name,  and 
unusual  to  say  the  least  :  the  names  of  places  in  Australia 
often  are  peculiar,  such  as  "  Jackass  Flat,"  "  Pigleg 
Gulley,"  "  Bacon-face  Flat,"  and  others  stranger  still  which 
I  forget  for  the  moment. 

Thursday,  December  23. — We  are  still  where  we  halted 
yesterday,  imprisoned  by  rain  which  falls  in  fierce  and 
sudden  showers.  Plummer  and  I  made  an  excursion 
round  the  lagoon  early  this  morning  in  search  of  wildfowl, 
but  met  no  success,  instead  thereof  a  sound  drenching  or 
two  by  rain  and  water  below  feet.  .  .  . 
....  We  hear  that  Henry  Pinchin  was  found  and  buried 
the  day  after  we  left  the  Broken  River  on  Monday.  I  am 
glad.  ... 

Plummer  and  I  went  up  the  high  sugar-loaf  mountain 
opposite  our  tent  yesterday  afternoon  and  lit  a  fire  on  the 
top,  smoked  a  pipe  and  made  ourselves  comfortable.  The 
scene  from  the  height  was  as  magnificent  as  ever  surprised 
and  blessed  the  sight  of  humanity  :  endless  ranges  of 
mountains  winding  round  and  beyond  each  other,  of  all 
forms  and  colours  and  covered  with  a  pale  celestial  light 
and  mist  :  great  trees  were  like  smallest  shrubs  and  creeks 
and  rivers  could  not  be  seen.  We  found  a  party  of  gold- 
seekers  had  been  up  there  and  left  a  ticket  fixed  in  a  bit  of 
stick  giving  their  names  and  date — Dec.  10 — and  country 
— New  Zealand — we  added  ours,  names,  date  and  country. 
The  descent  was  difficult  and  dangerous,  a  slip  of  the  foot 
— good-bye  !  it  was  dark  when  we  arrived  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain  and  had  the  most  awkward  places  to  wade 
before  we  found  the  tent. 

Friday,  December  24. — We  started  in  good  time  this 
morning  .  .  .  came  to  Lock's  Station  near  which  we  have 
camped  for  the  night.  It  is  a  lovely  place,  a  swamp  and 
mountains  before,  with  wattle,  honeysuckle  and  gumtrees 
behind  :    the  sun  shines  cleanly  now  and  everything  looks 


30  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

bright,  fair  and  tranquil,  but  the  day  has  been  blurred 
with  plentiful  showers.  A  lovely  place,  filled  with  the 
noises  and  flight  of  strange  birds  :  I  saw  one  tree  as  thick 
with  white  cockatoos  as  the  balls  of  bloom  on  the  guelder- 
rose  :  the  rosellas  dart  and  flutter  their  rich  hues  thro' 
the  air.  How  happy  a  man  might  be  here  if  his  friends 
were  with  him.  Mr.  Lock  told  us  gold  was  found  7  m. 
from  here  in  Blanket  creek.  I  believe  we  are  going  there 
to-morrow  prospecting,  and  if  it  turns  out  favourably  we 
will  strike  in  manfully  and  do  our  best. 

Saturday,  December  25. — Christmas  !  .  .  .  Mr.  Graves 
went  on  his  mare  to  examine  the  road  to  Blanket  creek 
and  found  it  very  good  :  I  believe  we  start  for  that  place 
to-morrow.  Some  of  our  fellows  are  cleaning  the  gold 
we  got  at  Reid's  creek  before  we  divide  it  :  I  shall  be  glad 
when  everything  of  this  sort  is  settled  to  be  quite  free  of 
some.  .  .  . 

...  I  am  lying  along  the  grass  behind  the  dead  honey- 
suckle's branches;  it  is  near  evening  and  the  sun  sends 
long  shadows.  .... 

...  If  one  thing  in  nature  could  send  me  suddenly  mad 
it  would  be  a  clear  and  settled  conviction  that  I  should 
never  see  England  again.  Sometimes  in  moments  most 
pleasant  to  me  the  possibility  sends  a  shiver  thro'  me  more 
foully  horrible  than  anything  I  ever  felt — almost  like  a 
brief  gap  giving  a  glimpse  of  hell.  I  fear  dwelling  on  the 
notion  much.  Death  I  should  care  but  little  for  :  it  is 
the  dread  of  becoming  so  reconciled  to  here,  or  thro'  other 
circumstances  as  not  to  reach  England — ^to  yield  what  I 
have  hoped  and  striven  for — to  step  down  a  little  lower  in 
creation,  not  society.  I  heed  but  little  the  steps  and  grades 
there  :  to  begin  for  a  high  mountain  top  and  wilhngly 
turn  back  and  descend  at  leisure,  that  is  what  I  loathe  : 
if  he  faint  and  die  on  the  road  bravely  toiling,  I  clothe  the 
fallen  hero  with  my  honour,  as  sincerely  as  if  he  had  been 
victorious,  but  detest  the  craven  who  for  bodily  comfort 
would  slink  from  his  object — ^the  purer  atmosphere — the 
wider  world-range,  and  being  nearer  the  sun. 

Sunday,  December  26. — We  left  our  beautiful  camping 


HIS  LIFE  IN  LETTERS  31 

ground  this  morning  and  we  pitched  in  and  about  the 
Blanket  hut  by  Blanket  creek  :  we  intend  to  try  this 
place  and  until  this  be  done  we  can  come  to  no  resolution  : 
most  of  our  party  seem  more  for  Melbourne  than  any 
other  thing.  .  .  .  Two  parrots  flew  past  me  just  now  with 
slate  bodies  and  crimson  heads. 

Monday,  December  27. — Our  gold-digging  must  be  post- 
poned for  a  few  weeks  for  we  go  on  the  tramp  again  to-night 
or  to-morrow  morning  :  we  have  sunk  a  few  holes  to  no 
purpose  and  Graves  chooses  to  start  for  Melbourne;  as 
we  have  no  other  chance  at  present  for  a  conveyance  to 
other  diggings  we  must  go  too.  This  has  been  an  unfor- 
tunate expedition  and  all  we  get  by  it  is  experience  pur- 
chased rather  dearh\  ...  I  have  not  had  time  to  complete 
the  hole  I  began  even  and  shall  leave  this  place  filled  with 
disappointment.  I  expect  Bernhard  and  I  shall  leave 
Melbourne  for  Forest  Creek  or  Bendigo ;  one  thing,  when 
we  start  again  it  will  be  with  a  better  knowledge  of  what  we 
are  going  about,  and  for  the  future  will  place  less  trust  in 
report. 

The  sun  has  just  set  and  left  a  few  rich  spots  upon  the 
sky.  We  have  left  the  Blanket  hut  and  are  camped  in 
the  flat  opposite  Lock's  station  near  the  place  where  our 
Christmas  passed.  This  ends  in  earnest  our  expedition  to  the 
Devil's  River.  .  .  . 

Wednesday,  December  29. — We  went  or  came  in  good 
time  to-day  and  reached  a  place  called  the  Big  Hill, 
we  reached  the  middle  of  it  about  noon.  The  scenery 
to-day  has  been  very  simple  and  large,  not  unlike  the  Ovens 
hills.  I  saw  an  ant  seize  the  tail  of  an  opossum-mouse. 
The  small  creature  could  scarcely  run  for  it :  Bernhard 
freed  him.  It  was  something  like  our  mouse,  only  its 
head  and  shoulders  were  much  larger  in  proportion.  I 
have  just  had  a  delicious  bath  in  the  creek  opposite  our 
camping  place  :  a  bath  and  pipe  after  are  the  only  luxuries 
I  can  indulge  in  :  one  is  healthy  the  other  injurious.  I 
must  now  write  to  Bateman  asking  him  to  return  my 
letters  to  Melbourne.     We  made  18  m.  this  day.  .  .  . 

Friday,    December    31. — This    day   concludes    1852,    an 


32  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

important  year  to  me.  I  have  left  nearly  all  I  love  to  seek 
nearly  all  I  want.  We  started  in  pretty  good  time,  but 
the  mid-day  halt  was  rather  prolonged  thro'  a  hot  wind  that 
blew  :  when  we  advanced  some  distance  on  the  road  the 
cause  was  obvious ;  first  an  odour  of  burning,  then  a  dense 
volume  of  smoke,  lastly  fierce  serpent  belchings  of  flame 
from  the  smoke  licking  the  great  trees  and  swallowing  up 
the  hay  dry  grass;  a  kind  of  consternation  came  over 
some  but  fortunately  it  turned  from  us  and  the  air  became 
suddenly  cooler ;   a  great  boon  !  .  .  . 

[1853]  Saturday,  January  1. — We  are  camped  beside  the 
Goul bourne  river  and  shall  remain  so  to-morrow  and 
perhaps  the  day  following.  The  country  is  tame  and 
monotonous  again  tho'  the  part  just  passed  contained 
pretty  spots  :  much  drier  than  when  we  went  up,  swiftly 
running  creeks  have  stagnated  to  chains  of  waterholes. 
I  went  down  to  the  river  for  water,  a  short  while  ago,  and 
had  scarcely  parted  from  the  place  when  the  huge  limb 
of  a  tree  fell  into  the  very  spot  I  was  upon  :  had  it  struck, 
it  would  have  crushed  me,  as  a  man's  foot  would  a  beetle. 
This  country  has  most  dark  and  dangerous  rivers,  they 
contain  holes  of  fearful  depth,  their  bottoms  covered  with 
nets  of  snags  and  logs — trees  fallen  from  the  side  and 
washed  down  the  stream,  rushes  and  tangles  of  strong 
weeds.  An  ugly  country  surely  where  a  man  is  half 
roasted  on  the  Friday  and  scarcely  escapes  a  broken  back 
and  drowning  the  following  Saturday  :  a  pretty  way  to 
begin  the  new  year.  I  saw  what  might  be  fairly  called 
a  pretty  girl  to-day,  at  a  place  where  Bernhard,  Pinchin 
and  I  went  for  milk;  the  girl's  mother  gave  us  currant 
cake  with  our  milk,  old  English  custom,  which  was  pleasant. 

I  mentioned  on  Friday  Nov.  26,  that  a  set  of  fellows 
whose  aspects  I  disliked  came  to  the  diggings;  these 
fellows  have  proved  to  be  notorious  bushrangers  and  have 
kept  the  country  in  terror  by  villainous  tricks,  the  man 
who  keeps  the  punt  here  has  been  giving  me  an  account 
of  their  robberies  at  Goulbourne  township  :  impudent 
scoundrels. 

Sunday,  January  2. — In  the  same  place,  uncomfortable 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  33 

thro'  delay.  I  had  a  deHghtful  bathe  in  the  river  this 
morning,  and  a  walk  along  its  banks  chiefly  under  the 
shade  of  wattle  trees.  About  8  days  more  and  good-bye 
to  this  bullock  team ;  I  shall  feel  as  if  released  from  prison. 
The  Goulbourne  banks  are  steep,  sandy,  loose  and  danger- 
ous, but  in  parts  most  lovely  to  gaze  upon  :  vigorous  rushes, 
brilHant  grasses,  so  bright  it  seems  the  earth  sheds  light, 
the  dark,  rich  green  of  the  wattle  flossed  with  bloom  :  the 
gaunt,  fantastic  boles  and  branches  of  the  white  gum, 
the  bare  complicated  nets  of  root-work,  water-worn,  dry 
and  dirty;  the  birds  of  strange  note  and  romantic  hues, 
the  insects  burning  with  emblazonment  that  dart  or 
flutter  amidst  all  this ;  the  many  flowers  and  shrubs  name- 
less to  me,  but  beautiful,  all  assisted  to  give  me  as  much 
pleasure  as  I  could  feel  in  such  circumstances ;  being 
away  from  my  chance  of  advancing  in  life  and  attaining 
that  for  which  I  strive.  When  I  once  get  to  work  again  it 
will  be  something  more  than  a  little  that  will  seduce  me 
from  it. 

Monday,  January  3. — A  decent  stage  to-day,  we  are 
near  where  we  were  Nov.  7  encamped  beside  some  water- 
holes.  I  have  been  cutting  Pinchin's  hair  :  a  barber, 
what  shall  I  be  next  ?  I  had  thoughts  of  turning  sheep- 
shearer  and  reaper  till  fresh  diggings  broke  out.  The 
numbers  of  folks  we  meet  bound  for  the  Ovens  is  extra- 
ordinary, almost  as  many  old  hands  as  new  chums.  It 
seems  great  nonsense  writing  such  trifles  down  :  of  course, 
they  would  be  quite  uninteresting  to  any  other  person, 
but  will  serve  to  call  up  pictures  and  events  to  me  at  some 
future  period — perhaps.  How  vague  the  fact;  every 
little  section  added  to  this  book  is  the  record  of  a  day 
taken  from  my  life. 

Tuesday,  January  4. — Four  days  melted  from  the  new 
year.  We  are  about  1  m.  from  Kilmore,  that  charming 
town  of  shabbiness  and  filth,  encamped  on  where  there  is 
no  water ;  a  great  oversight ;  two  hands  have  been  full 
an  hour  searching  for  some  and  found  it  not.  Pinchin  and 
Jack  have  now  set  out  in  quest.  About  3  more  days  and 
we  are  free  again.     The  weather  has  been  very  cold  during 

D 


34  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

the  greater  part  of  the  day.  I  frequently  wished  for 
something  more  than  my  Jersey  or  Jumper,  as  it  is  called 
occasionally. 

Wednesday,  January  5.  .  .  .  The  road  to-day  has  been 
even  fuller  than  usual  with  drays ;  the  accounts  from 
the  Ovens  seem  to  grow  in  promise  as  we  recede  from 
them,  most  other  diggings  seem  flat  and  uninviting : 
we  are  not  more  than  28  m.  from  Melbourne,  how  I  hope 
there  will  be  letters  for  me.  My  anxiety  to  hear  from 
England  in  a  measure  interrupts  my  thoughts  and  resolves 
and  injures  my  worldly  interest ;  I  wonder  if  they,  my 
friends,  think  of  me  as  often  as  I  think  of  them ;  I  expect 
not,  for  their  lives  progress  in  the  usual  way,  surrounded 
by  numerous  friends,  and  one  absent  is  no  more  than  a 
bead  from  a  necklace;  whereas  everything  is  new  to  me 
here  and  contrasts  are  ever  striking  me.  I  compare  the 
people  about  to  those  I  left  behind  and  sometimes  feel 
strangely  isolated. 

Saturday,  January  8. — We  reached  Melbourne  Jan.  6, 
in  the  evening  and  had  to  search  half  thro'  the  town  for 
a  night's  lodging,  it  was  procured  at  last  with  some  difficulty 
for  the  landlord  of  the  Imperial  Inn  did  not  seem  much  to 
relish  our  uncouth  aspects,  rough  from  bush-life  :  the  bed 
notwithstanding  my  fatigue  suited  me  badly;  mosquitoes 
tormented  for  more  than  half  the  night ;  I  felt  something 
heavy  walking  over  me  and  on  giving  a  kick  a  great  rat 
fell  lump  on  the  floor,  whirled  about,  squeaked  and  scam- 
pered off  with  another  wretch.  ...  I  and  Bernhard  paid 
a  visit  to  Dr.  Howitt's  whose  family  were  as  kind  as  when 
we  landed  from  the  Windsor,  the  utmost  that  can  be 
said ;  they  wished  us  to  come  and  stay  with  them ;  Bern- 
hard  remained  at  the  Inn  with  Pinchin.  I  am  at  Dr. 
Howitt's  where  B.  will  probably  soon  come.  We  both 
dined  here  yesterday,  in  the  afternoon  Mrs.  and  Mr.  La 
Trobe  called  with  Mrs.  Lonsdale,  wife  of  the  colonial 
secretary.  Last  night  was  the  first  I  have  enjoyed  since 
I  left  Melbourne  for  the  diggings;  I  rose  without  my 
shoulders  aching  from  the  hard  ground.  We  are  waiting 
now  for  news  of  the  Ovens  from  Bateman,  if  his  news  be 


W.    C.    WENTWORTH,     1854 


[To  face  page  35. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  85 

good  we  shall  return  there,  as  we  hear  no  promising 
accounts  from  other  diggings. 

Safe  from  the  bush,  for  a  short  while  comfortably- 
reposing,  thus  ends  what  I  call  our  "  Expedition  of  Experi- 
ence." We  may  consider  ourselves  fairly  initiated  into 
the  peculiarities  of  colonial  jobbing  or  swindling  or  gadding 
or  any  name  one  may  please  to  call  it ;  at  all  hazards  a 
something  to  be  wary  in  trusting. 

Sunday,  January  9. — Nothing  occurs  to  note,  things  in 
civilized  life  go  so  regularly  onwards  :  the  chief  occupation 
of  my  mind  is  "  Where  shall  we  go  next  ?  "  until  we  hear 
from  Bateman  this  cannot  be  decided.  I  feel  this  a  large 
comfort  to  be  able  to  write  on  a  table.  .  .  .  Dr.  Howitt's 
collection  of  plants  and  flowers  are  most  choice  and  beauti- 
ful, his  gardener  told  me  it  was  the  best  in  all  Victoria.  I 
look  upon  a  good  garden  as  the  essence  of  a  country's 
beauty;  the  loveliness  scattered  over  wastes  and  loose 
patches  of  earth  is  here  compressed  into  a  set  space  that 
may  be  refined  and  enriched  at  will;  in  this  matter-of- 
gross-fact  country  it  is  almost  the  only  region  wherein 
the  beauty-loving  soul  can  enjoy  itself  and  forget  that 
most  of  its  fellows  heed  nothing  but  corn,  sheep  and  the 
accumulation  of  gold.  .  .  . 

Tuesday,  January  11. — I  went  this  morning  to  meet 
the  dray  which  came  in  town  at  11  a.m.  We  got  our 
goods  and  paid  for  their  carriage.  .  .  .  We  expect  to 
start  for  Fryers  Creek  in  2  or  3  days  with  Pinchin  and  a 
friend  of  his,  Mr.  Vesey. 

I  heard  from  Bateman  yesterday,  he  gives  no  promise 
of  the  Ovens,  but  expects  good  from  a  quarter  yet  unknown  : 
he  sent  my  letters,  one  from  my  father.  .  .  .  No  one  who 
has  never  tried  or  known  it  can  tell  the  delight  in  receiving 
a  little  gossip  from  home  when  16,000  miles  away.  I 
expected  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Orme  and  one  from  Wm. 
Rossetti — did  not  get  them.  It  is  raining  hard  this  day  : 
ever3rthing  looks  fresh  and  beautiful  but  wonderfully  sad 
to  me  ;  looking  from  the  window  I  see  a  fine  pomegranate 
tree.  It  is  a  body  of  sparkling  and  deep  green  with  such 
outbreakings  of  scarlet  splendours  that  my  soul  feels  sick 


36  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

for  love  of  it,  yet  I  am  sad;  it  sprung  from  darkness, 
aspires  thro'  light,  seemingly  towards  gloom  again,  this 
vainly  beautiful  pomegranate  tree. 

Wednesday,  January  12.  ...  I  hope  greatly  to  make  a 
start  the  day  after  to-morrow,  partly  that  I  am  anxious 
to  develop  swiftly  as  possible  the  little  destiny  of  mine  in 
this  poor  state,  and  also  I  fear  the  comfort  I  enjoy  at 
present  may  tend  to  unfit  me  for  the  rough  life  to  come, 
by  refining  my  sensations  too  much  and  rendering  me 
weak  for  lack  of  exercise.  .  .  . 

Sunday  Evening,  January  16. — We  did  not  start  yester- 
day thro'  some  business  of  Mr.  Vesey's  :  B  and  I  slept 
at  the  Port  Phillip  Club  Hotel,  for  I  disliked  returning 
to  Dr.  Howitt's  after  wishing  them  all  good-bye.  We  left 
Melbourne  at  noon  to-day  and  are  now  camped  at  Keillor, 
a  place  10  m.  from  town.  I  am  rather  tired  :  a  delightful 
rest  such  as  mine  has  been,  among  the  most  refined  of 
human  beings,  does  my  soul  more  favor  than  my  body,  for 
it  rather  unfits  me  for  common  labor  and  makes  me  half 
yearn  to  go  to  my  Art  again.  The  country  we  passed 
thro'  to-day  is  almost  bare  and  undulates.  The  sky  is 
gloomy. 

Monday,  January  17. — We  left  Keillor  this  morning  in 
fair  time ;  passed  over  a  large  plain,  of  a  uniform  whitish, 
yellow,  in  the  distance  were  forms  of  delicate  blue  moun- 
tains :  a  sublime  reach  of  even  distance.  We  are  halted 
by  a  creek  with  but  little  water,  but  that  very  good.  Nice 
water  is  verily  a  blessing  to  the  traveller.  .  .  . 

Tuesday,  January  18. — We  started  early  and  halted 
near  the  Bush  Inn,  are  now  camping,  about  a  mile 
farther  on  the  road.  We  came  to  a  steep  hill  our  old 
horse  would  not  ascend,  and  an  owner  of  some  bullock 
teams  let  us  fasten  on  to  one  of  his  drays  when  we  came  up 
neatly  enough.  The  country  here  is  beautiful,  we  are 
beside  a  large  swamp  and  the  trees,  grass,  etceteras  of 
vegetation  are  consequently  green  :  there  are  many  camped 
round.  Bernhard  is  going  to  bake  a  damper,  the  first 
during  this  expedition.  We  go  on  much  more  comfortably 
than  hitherto;  Mr.  Vesey  is  a  very  nice  fellow,  fond  of 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  37 

reading  poets  and  good-hearted.     Burns  is  a  favorite  of 
his. 

Wednesday,  January  19. — We  came  thro'  the  Black 
Forest  to-day;  I  saw  nothing  but  the  trees'  trunks  that 
struck  me  as  being  particularly  black — many  white  gums 
were  quite  shining.  The  old  horse  did  well,  he  tried  to 
jib  a  bit  but  Pinchin  soon  convinced  him  such  tricks  were 
of  no  avail.  We  are  near  the  5  m.  Creek,  about  35  m. 
from  Forest  Creek.  We  have  had  hills  and  hollows  all 
day.  .  .  . 

Friday,  January  21. — Reached  Fryer's  Creek  late, 
went  10  m.  out  of  our  road.  I  never  saw  anything  more 
desolate  than  the  first  sight  of  Mt.  Alexander  was  to  me  : 
it  was  what  one  might  suppose  the  earth  would  appear 
after  the  day  of  judgment  has  emptied  all  the  graves.  I 
saw  holes  with  grass  and  wild  flowers  growing  on  their 
borders.  The  whole  thing  gave  me  one  of  the  saddest 
impressions  I  ever  felt — the  carcasses  of  labor — the  earthy 
shells  of  hard  endeavour,  often  fruitlessly,  and  sometimes 
success  proved  a  curse. 

Saturday,  January  22. — Went  and  saw  Mr.  Gilbert  the 
commissioner;  he  is  a  most  kind  and  courteous  man, 
treated  us  with  all  attention,  introduced  Mr.  Herring,  com- 
missioner of  Fryers  Creek,  to  us  who  is  to  show  good  ground 
on  Monday.  This  is  anything  but  a  lovely  spot  where  we 
are  camped ;  surrounded  by  hills  it  looks  like  an  old  tin 
oval  dish,  at  this  time  covered  with  smoke  and  dust.  Dust 
is  a  nuisance. 

Friday,  January  28. — We  are  sinking  two  holes  now, 
one  up  a  dry  gulley  is  a  miracle  of  toughness,  the 
other  is  not  hard  but  must  be  worked  to  a  great  depth  and 
there  will  be  plenty  of  water,  but  it  is  in  a  promising  place 
near  where  something  has  been  done.  I  have  done  nothing 
scarcely  for  two  days,  my  hands  have  been  too  sore.  .  .  . 

Tuesday,  February  1. — Been  working  hard  all  day  at 
the  deep  hole,  are  near  the  bottom  and  shall  know  by 
to-morrow  noon  if  it  be  of  any  value ;  the  two  holes  near 
ours  are,  I  believe,  paying  tolerably  well,  so  our  chance  is 
fair.     My  hands  are  better,  one  is  nearly  right,  the  other 


38  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

shows  and  feels  rather  badly  yet  :  I  think  myself  improving 
in  health  for  I  feel  in  better  spirits.  I  should  like  letters 
from  my  friends  in  England  at  least  once  a  month. 

Wednesday,  February  2. — Am  rather  tired,  been  working 
all  day  at  the  windlass  :  we  are  at  the  bottom  of  our  hole 
and  it  bids  fair  to  pay,  not  well,  but  up  and  even  above  the 
average.  My  hand  still  keeps  me  from  putting  that 
spirit  in  the  work  I  would :  I  must  hope  that  perseverance 
will  conquer.  .  .  . 

Friday,  February  11. — I  have  been  hard  at  work  under- 
mining in  the  hole  which  made  a  better  show  to-day.  The 
Creek  begins  to  look  thin,  people  are  off  to  Bendigo, 
Ballarat  or  elsewhere. 

Saturday,  February  12. — Been  at  work  in  the  hole  all 
day,  found  a  nice  little  pocket  of  gold.  In  the  afternoon 
a  heavy  rain  and  thunder  storm  came  down  upon  us,  we 
were  obliged  to  knock  off  work.  An  immense  number  of 
people  get  drunk,  in  this  part  :  there  are  numerous  sly 
grog-shops.     We  began  to  cart  our  washing  stuff. 

Monday,  February  14. — I  did  nothing  of  any  account 
yesterday  but  a  little  domesticity  and  a  walk  towards  the 
junction  of  Fryer's  Creek  and  the  Loddon  :  it  was  raining 
all  day  and  has  been  this  day  also  :  I  have  been  working 
at  the  hole  a  little,  but  the  wet  makes  it  very  difficult  and 
disagreeable.  This  is  like  the  weather  they  have  in  England 
during  February,  very  unusual,  they  say,  here.  My  cold 
has  turned  to  a  cough  which  annoys  me  sadly  at  times. 
...  I  think  this  country  never  will  agree  with  me  and  I 
half  suspect  this  gold-digging  life  will  finish  me  off  before 
I  can  make  a  fortune  at  it ;  however  I  will  keep  at  it  as  long 
as  I  can.  Mr.  Vesey  lost  his  horse  yesterday  and  cannot 
find  him  to-day.     Many  drunken  squalls  here. 

Tuesday,  February  15. — How  time  passes  with  me. 
Been  at  work  in  the  hole  all  day  driving  :  I  fear  it  begins 
to  be  dangerous  but  there  is  no  help  for  it  in  this  work, 
where  there  is  gold  there  we  must  drive.  I  found  a  neat 
pocket  of  4  oz.  or  more  this  morning.  .  .  . 

Thursday  February  17. — We  have  been  cradling  all 
day  and  have  worked   a  great  quantity  of  our  stuff  which 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  39 

is  not  so  good  as  we  expected.  ...  In  the  afternoon  I 
went  to  Castlemaine  for  letters  :  received  one  from  dear 
old  Hunt  who  is  in  Syria  now,  by  his  own  account;  one 
from  Mrs.  Dr.  Howitt  :  what  a  pleasure  it  is  communicat- 
ing with  refinement,  to  a  person  dwelling  in  this  half 
savage  state  :  I  also  heard  of  Bateman  who  may  be  here 
at  Fryer's  Creek  before  long.  .  .  . 

Friday^  February  18. — Been  cradling  all  day  and 
finished  all  our  washing-stuff,  the  gold  is  not  weighed  but 
I  think  it  will  not  be  much  short  of  four  pounds.  Probably 
Bernhard  and  self  will  part  from  Vesey  and  Pinchin ;  we 
none  of  us  pull  the  same  way  comfortably.  .  .  . 

Saturday,  February  19. — This  morning  we  cleaned, 
dried  and  washed  our  gold  :  each  share  was  ten  ounces 
40  oz.  in  all.  We  also  had  a  general  settling  of  accounts  : 
Mr.  Vesey  wanted  us  to  bear  part  of  his  expense  thro'  loss 
of  his  horse  which  we  flatter  ourselves  we  did  not  accede 
to,  considering  we  had  no  concern  in  the  affair :  the 
small  man  says  he  will  go  to  Melbourne  and  try  to  get 
money  by  other  means  than  gold-digging,  an  occupation 
he  is  as  fit  for  as  I  should  be  at  his  business — a  tallow- 
melter  for  candles.  .  .  . 

Tuesday,  March  1. — Been  driving  in  the  hole  all  day 
ditto  yesterday,  the  two  days'  work  come  to  less  than 
an  ounce;  we  intend  giving  to-morrow  and  if  the  stuff 
betters  not  give  it  up.  We  have  joined  Pinchin's  Corsham 
friends  in  going  down  with  a  wet  claim. 

Wednesday,  March  2. — I  was  at  the  windlass  all  morning 
and  part  of  afternoon  :  the  hole  grows  backwards  or  worse 
not  better;  I  will  begin  a  new  drift  to-morrow  and  that 
will  be  testing  enough.  .  .  . 

Friday,  March  4. — Worked  at  the  hole  all  yesterday, 
to-day  also  till  noon  then  gave  it  up  :  we  have  got  about 
1  oz.  from  it.  This  day  after  noon  I  went  to  Castle- 
maine for  letters,  received  one  from  Mrs.  Orme  :  how 
truly  faithful  to  her  promise  she  is  :  her  letter  is  dated 
Sep.  20,  1852.  .   .   . 

Sunday,  March  6. — The  sun  is  down  behind  the  hills 
and    another   day    has    passed    from    me.     We    got    our 


40  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

tarpaulin  over  the  tent  in  the  morning  and  feel  the  benefit 
of  so  doing,  for  we  have  been  able  to  remain  within  tent 
without  being  quite  roasted;  we  are  chiefly  indebted  to 
Bernhard  for  his  exertions  in  this  affair.  I  want  to  write 
home  and  to  Mrs.  Orme  greatly  but  can  get  no  opportunity  : 
I  have  not  one  quarter  of  an  hour  during  the  week,  and 
Sunday  is  half  employed  washing  wearing  apparel  and 
getting  my  bed  traps  in  order.  We  have  no  table  and  there 
never  is  any  quietness  in  the  tent,  so  that  I  am  obliged  to 
keep  postponing  it  till  I  fear  they  will  think  I  slight  them 
or  some  other  incorrect  thing.  I  have  just  come  down 
from  the  hill  behind  us,  having  enjoyed  a  quiet  time  reading 
the  packet  of  lettei's  sent  me  by  Mrs.  Orme.  .  .  . 

Tuesday,  March  8. — Washed  a  tubful  of  stuff  from 
our  wet  claim  and  found  but  a  few  fine  specks  :  have 
given  it  up  for  the  present.  We  are  now,  at  least  I, engaged 
sinking  a  hole  on  Dead  Man's  Hill.  .  .  . 

Sunday,  March  20. — I  did  not  note  the  3  last  days 
chiefly  thro'  want  of  time;  Thursday  we  worked  all 
day  sinking;  Friday  we  could  not  stop  to  have  dinner 
because  water  made  upon  our  work  so  fast,  we  bottomed 
the  hole  notwithstanding;  yesterday  we  washed  all  day 
and  the  result  for  the  week's  hard  work  was  half  or  little 
more  than  half  an  ounce ;  this  for  four  men  is  not  an 
extravagantly  rich  return.  We  have  been  doing  very 
badly  of  late,  and  if  it  keep  much  longer  thus  I  fear  my 
Gold-digging  days  must  come  to  a  conclusion;  we  do  not 
nearly  earn  our  food.  .  .  .  The  years  sliding  from  me  and 
no  real  work  done — the  road  uncut  that  I  must  pass  thro' . 
I  begin  to  have  grim,  heavy  doubts  if  I  did  well  in  leaving 
England  :  I  am  away  most  effectually  now  and  must  make 
the  best  of  it  and  crawl  along  if  I  cannot  run.  This  day  is 
full  of  sunshine  and  cheerful  air;  this  will  be  a  beautiful 
land  when  brought  properly  under  man's  sway;  it  is 
beautiful  and  grand  now,  but  man  wants  cultivated  spots 
wherefrom  to  enjoy  it  all.  .  .  . 

Tuesday,  March  22. — Been  prospecting  but  have  found 
no  ground  to  suit;  we  went  into  a  hole  and  bottomed  it 
this  afternoon  but  found  nothing.  .  .  . 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  41 

Friday,  April  1. — Been  sinking  near  Sj^ring  Flat  all 
day:  yesterday  ditto.  Andrews  is  not  well;  last  night 
he  shot  an  opossum,  to-night  he  skinned  the  creature, 
prepared  the  skin  with  alum  for  me ;  I  want  to  make  a 
tobacco-pouch  Avith  it. 

Saturday,  April  2.  ...  I  am  growing  weary  of  gold 
digging,  the  labor  is  too  great  for  the  return;  a  poorest 
menial  could  make  more  at  his  work  in  Australia  than  we 
have  since  ours  began  here.  .  .  . 

Wednesday,  April  6. — We  are  unfortunate  gold  diggers 
for  we  get  nothing  by  working  hard.  There  was  a  funeral 
at  Castlemaine  to-day  of  Cap^  Blake  who  was  killed  by 
falling  from  his  horse  :   a  man  well  beloved.  .  .  . 

Friday,  April  22. — Started  in  good  time,  passed  the 
Porcupine,  halted  for  dinner  a  little  before  the  Bullock 
Creek,  crossed  it,  then  passed  over  the  Big  Hill  at  the  foot 
of  which  we  have  camped  for  the  night.  The  scenery  has 
been  similar  to  parts  of  the  Ovens  and  Broken  River,  the 
mountains  granite  :  this  side  of  the  Big  Hill  we  find 
sandstone  rock  and  quartz.  We  are  two  miles  from  the 
diggings  where  they  commence.  The  road  has  been  all 
day  thronged  with  drays,  most  of  them  returning  from 
Bendigo  empty,  others  going  up  with  stores. 

Sunday,  April  24.  .  .  .  The  Bendigo  is  an  enormous 
stretch  of  diggings ;  there  is  something  sad  in  the  sight  : 
the  immense  amount  of  human  life  used  in  lifting  up  these 
rings  and  mounds  of  earth,  gradually  settling  to  the  com- 
mon level  of  the  flat  again  :  the  tons  of  gold  eagerly 
snatched  and  riotously  wasted,  the  tremendous  labour 
done  by  Ignorance,  the  tremendous  gains  made  by  Cunning 
— the  little  real  value  affected  by  all  this,  the  almost 
infinite  harm  to  many.  Everything  looks  old  and  estab- 
lished here,  a  matter-of-course  straightforwardness  in 
doing  business,  the  Storekeepers  charge  as  much  as  they 
think  they  can  get  without  the  smallest  reference  to 
decency ;  for  instance,  Andrews  went  last  night  to  a  Store 
for  an  axe  handle,  they  wanted  the  moderate  sum  of  18^. 
He  w^ent  this  morning  to  another  Store  where  they  charged 
him  3  shillings,  the  ordinary  price.  .  .  . 


42  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Wednesday,  April  27.— The  rain  has  baulked  our 
work  several  times  to-day.  We  have  been  sinking  m  our 
claims  :  come  on  to  the  crust,  stuff  so  hard  the  pick  will 
not  touch  it,  obUged  to  use  gads  and  a  sledge  hammer. 
There  is  hard  work  going  on  about  us,  people  are  all  day 
damming  the  waters  and  blasting  the  rocks  :  I  hear  no 
grumbUng  even,  the  men  are  so  busy  one  way  or  another. 
I  found  and  caught  an  oppossum  in  a  tree.  Bernhard 
caught  a  scorpion  in  our  tent. 

Thursday,  April  28.— Been  sinking  all  day  :  our  holes 
are  harder  than  anything  I  ever  attempted  to  cut  thro',  the 
gads  will  scarcely  touch  one  of  them.  I  received  a  letter 
from  Mrs.  Orme  :  it  was  posted  in  London  February  9. 
A  letter  from  Bateman  who  says  he  will  soon  be  up  at  the 
Bendigo.  I  am  anxious  to  write  home  but  this  laborious 
life  gives  me  no  opportunity;  if  I  tell  them  this  it  will  be 
difficult  to  make  them  understand,  as  they  can  have  no 
conception  of  hving  in  the  Bush.  ... 

Friday,  April  29.— The  number  of  tents  is  astonishing 
and  they  increase  daily.  Bendigo  is  a  busy  place  and 
certainly  worth  seeing.  I  always  feel  better  spirits  after 
having  news  from  England.  ... 

Sunday,  May  1.  ...  I  have  been  washing,  heaving 
logs  and  attending  to  dinner  duties,  my  day's  work.  I 
was  sorry  it  was  Sunday  because  I  was  anxious  to  get  to  the 
bottom  of  our  claim  now  we  are  thro'  the  crust.  Andrews 
cut  my  hair  to-day,  and  did  it  as  well  as  any  barber  could 

doit.    .    .    .  1  r,      J 

Thursday,  May  5.— We  have  not  bottomed  our  hard 
hole  yet,  there  is  a  quantity  of  cemented  iron-stone  slag 
that  is  extraordinarily  tough  to  get  thro';  we  broke 
another  pick  to-day  and  think  of  going  the  extent  of  a 
sledge  or  an  8  lb.  driving  pick:  the  hole  next  ours  is 
shghtly  improving  and  dipping  to  a  gutter.  ... 

Friday,  May  6.— We  have  reached  the  bottom  of 
our  hard  hole  at  last,  and  are  going  to  wash  a  tubful  to- 
morrow to  see  what  it  is  worth.  .  .  . 

Saturday,  May  7.— We  washed  two  tubfuls  and  got 
about  half  a  pennyweight  :  we  intend  driving  it  a  little  ere 


ALFRED    TENNYSON,     1856 


[To  face  page  42. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  43 

giving  it  the  ding.  Smith  and  Pinchin  bottomed  theirs 
but  the  prospect  is  of  no  account.  The  spirits  of  our 
party  are  low  and  well  they  may  be.  I  spent  a  miserable 
last  night,  am  a  little  better  to-day  tho'  very  weak.  I 
could  scarcely  lift  a  bucket  of  stuff  off  the  hook  at  the 
windlass.  Bendigo  is  to  be  another  Fryer's  Creek,  I 
fear. 

Sunday,  May  8. — The  day  has  been  remarkably  fine  : 
I  went  in  the  morning  for  a  long  walk  and  noticed  one 
peculiarity  belonging  to  the  birds  of  this  country  which 
in  part  compensates  for  their  want  of  song,  it  is  the  exquisite 
gracefulness  of  their  flight ;  they  strike  wildly  and  catch 
up  in  sudden  check,  whirl  lightly  round  darting  their  heads 
nervously  a  few  times  at  something,  then  float  calmly 
away  :  after  my  walk  I  fetched  water,  made  some  dump- 
lings for  dinner,  spent  the  rest  of  the  day  doing  nothing 
in  particular.     Smith  went  to  Sandhurst.  .  .  . 

Thursday,  May  12. — Washed  the  remainder  of  our 
stuff,  got  about  3  pennyweight,  not  worth  the  washing 
by  any  means.  Sold  the  tubs  and  one  cradle,  expect  to 
sell  all  shortly.  Bernhard  is  gone  to  Sandhurst  in  hopes 
of  meeting  his  brother  and  to  dine  with  a  Captain  Herriot. 
This  great  Mt.  Ivor  rush  has  throwTi  many  storekeepers 
out  of  their  latitude  fearfully  :  diggers  grieve  not  at  their 
mishaps,  but  slightly  chuckle.     Weather  is  agreeable.  .  .  . 

Monday,  [May  16. — Still  on  the  Bendigo,  the  dray 
starts  to-morrow  morning  8  for  Forest  Creek  that  we  go 
by.  Bernhard  starts  for  Lookers  Station  near  the  Mt. 
Ivor  ranges  till  he  gets  his  commission.  Everything  is 
getting  fiat  at  Bendigo,  storekeepers  wail,  diggers  flit 
about,  the  doctors  stick  fast,  for  many  are  ill  and  die  here — 
poor  diggers.  We  finished  selling  off  our  things,  and 
allowing  for  the  place,  very  well.  To-morrow  good-bye 
to  Bendigo  and  the  gold  fields  generally.  We  have  given 
them  a  trial  sufficiently  long  I  think,  and  if  I  do  not  suc- 
ceed better  in  my  next  effort  I  do  not  think  it  likely  the 
gold  fields  will  tempt  me  again  as  a  digger  :  my  fortune  is 
not  to  be  this  way. 

Wednesday,    May    18. — At   Castlemaine,    Forest    Creek, 


44  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

last  night  reached  Barker's  Creek  after  dark,  we  made 
about  28  m.,  came  here  early  in  morning  :  I  went  to  the 
camp,  saw  Alex.  Smith,  had  luncheon  at  the  mess,  spoke 
to  him  for  Andrews  concerning  work,  etc.  I  expect  to 
start  for  Melbourne  to-morrow,  if  so  this  is  my  last  night 
on  the  diggings.  Try  life  in  other  shapes.  Bernhard 
started  yesterday  for  Lookers  Station,  knapsack  on 
shoulder. 

[Between  these  two  entries  Woolner  received  and  wrote 
several  letters  (between  May  18,  1853  and  May  26,  1854), 
and  these  letters  will  take  the  place  of  the  unwritten 
journal.] 

[1854]  Friday,  May  26. — More  than  a  year  has  passed 
since  I  wrote  in  this  book.  Now  I  am  in  Sydney  modelling 
likenesses  of  some  of  its  inhabitants.  It  certainly  must  be 
indolence  that  I  have  not  continued  my  journal  for  cer- 
tainly I  have  had  more  leisure  and  opportunity  than  when 
I  was  on  the  diggings,  and  I  think  my  changes  and  adven- 
tures have  since  then  been  equally  interesting  to  myself. 
I  have  on  the  whole  enjoyed  my  last  12  months  more 
than  any  other  during  my  life.  I  hope  within  a  month 
to  be  in  Melbourne,  thence  to  start  for  London. 

14,  Chatham  Place, 

Blackfriars  Bridge, 

Saturday,  January  1,  1853. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

Among  the  many  sins  of  omission  for  which  I  am 
hoping  that  this  New  Year  is  to  witness  some  atonement, 
as  I  have  hoped  in  other  new  years,  I  have  at  least  sat 
down  to  make  sure  of  one — perhaps  the  heaviest — the 
letter  which  I  have  so  long  owed  you.  If,  when  we  were 
together  on  the  steamer  upon  that  16th  of  July  which  I 
assure  you,  my  dear  friend,  is  not  and  cannot  be  for- 
gotten, any  one  had  then  told  me  that  I  should  not  write 
to  you  till  next  New  Year's  Day,  it  not  only  would  not, 
but  could  not  have  been  believed  by  me.  And  what  is 
most  on  my  conscience,  is  the  knowledge  that,  well  as  you 
know  my  nature,  you  would  not  have  believed  it  either. 
The  fact  is,  that  my  other  many  remissnesses  have  been 
the   cause  of  this  one ;   for  often,  when  I  have  been  on  the 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS 


45 


point  of  writing,  I  have  again  deferred  it,  finding  that  I 
had  nothing  to  say  except  to  hover  round  the  old  desperate 
desultory  story.  However,  I  will  now  try  to  believe  that 
the  spell  may  act  both  ways,  so  that  after  writing  to  you, 
I  may  find  other  duties  getting  fulfilled  in  their  kind,  and 
go  on  my  way  rejoicing.  One  thing,  however,  I  know 
you  have  not  doubted,  for  all  my  long  silence;  and  that 
is,  that  every  night,  in  lying  down,  I  have  thought  of  you 
and  of  our  friends  who  are  with  you,  and  that  the  thought 


of  you  has  been  brought  to  me  constantly  from  all  sides, 
in  all  manner  of  sudden  ways.  I  know  none  of  you  have 
doubted  this,  and  you  have  been  right. 

I  date  this  from  my  new  rooms  at  Blackfriars,  but  it  is 
written  at  Arlington  Street,  where  Hunt  and  Stephens 
have  just  left,  having  dined  with  us,  and  spent  the  New 
Year's  evening.  Hunt  has  just  returned  from  a  Christmas 
at  Oxford,  jolher  than  ever,  with  a  laugh  which  answers 
one's  own  like  a  grotto  full  of  echoes.  Stephens  smiles 
as     of  old,  as  cordially  as  the  best  but  with  a  shade  of 


46  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

nicety — ^the  philosopher  of  reluctance.  We  have  been 
amusing  ourselves  since  dinner  with  trying  to  sketch  heads 
from  memory.  They  are  lying  about  the  table — all  more 
or  less  mulls.  Here  is  one  of  yourself  which  looks  like  a 
fire-fiend.  Of  course  I  do  not  mean  this  marginal  one, 
which  is  William  fallen  asleep,  while  I  write,  in  one  of  his 
usual  anti-anatomical  actions.  The  candle  has  just  been 
gulped  into  its  socket,  and  I  wake  him  unrelentingly  to 
ask  him  if  there  is  another  in  the  room.  He  says  "  no  " 
with  benevolent  self-possession,  and  falls  asleep  again. 
But  he  is  wrong,  for  I  have  found  one.  These  are  my 
environments  at  the  present  writing — as  familiar  to  you 
as  the  scrawl  you  are  reading.  Let  me  hear,  when  you 
write,  exactly  how  you  are  occupied  and  surrounded  at 
the  moment  of  receiving  this,  and  I  shall  get  as  clear  a 
glimpse  of  you,  I  suppose,  as  possible,  and  let  me  know, 
too,  all  about  your  voyage,  and  the  time  of  your  arrival, 
and  about  your  present  work,  and  your  plans,  and  about 
everything  and  everybody. 

Meanwhile  I  will  turn  over  these  scratches  and  carica- 
tures that  lie  on  the  table,  and  tell  you  something  of  the 
originals. 

Here  is  Millais.  But  all  the  letters  you  have  must 
speak  of  him — conquering  and  to  conquer.  And  here  is 
William  Millais,  who  has  just  done  some  landscapes  worthy 
of  almost  any  one  except  his  brother.  Here  is  Hunt.  It 
is  one  of  William's  queer  portraits,  but  it  has  something 
of  him.  It  looks  like  a  fellow  who  would  have  a  try  at 
anything,  even  to  making  the  sun  stand  still — and  indeed 
he  has  done  that,  on  his  canvasses  which  are  more  vivid 
than  ever.  You  have  heard  from  him,  and  will  know  that 
he  is  at  last  coming  into  his  rights,  and,  as  Tennyson  says, 
in  his  ode  on  the  Wellington  fever, 

"  has  found  the  stubborn  thistle  bursting 
Into  glossy  purples  that  outredden 
All  voluptuous  garden  roses." 

Here  is  Brown — at  least  something  meant  for  Brown.  He 
is  still  at  Hampstead,  and  painting,  I  believe,  a  small 
modern  picture  about  emigration.^  From  his  description, 
I  should  think  it  would  turn  out  first-rate,  but  I  have  not 
found  my  way  to  Hampstead  lately.     I  have  seen  him 

1  "  The  Last  of  England,"  by  Ford  Madox  Brown. 


HIS  LIFE  IN  LETTERS  47 

sometimes  at  the  Camden  Town  School  here,  where  he  has 
taken  a  mastership,  and  where  I  have  several  times  seen 
your  yomig  brother,  who  gives,  I  assure  you,  great  promise 
in  modelling.  My  sister  goes  there  too,  and  I  believe  Miss 
Orme  is  likely  to  join  shortly,  they  being  now  known  to 
each  other.  Here  is  a  portrait  of  the  latter,  among  the 
rest,  but  perhaps  it  is  not  quite  equal  to  yours.  I  have 
spent  various  evenings  with  the  Ormes  since  you  left,  in 
company  with  William  and  sometimes  Christina,  and 
indeed,  I  think  we  may  now  consider  ourselves  in  the  circle 
of  family  friends.  WilHam  and  I  were  there  on  Christmas 
night,  but  I  was  taken  unwell  and  forced  to  leave.  You 
may  guess  how  many  conjectures  about  your  doings  have 
passed  there  among  us  at  different  times.  I  gave  Mrs. 
Orme  my  sketch  of  you,  and  she  has  had  it  framed  and 
hung  up. 

Here  is  an  abortive  attempt  at  Hannay.  .  .  .  His  in- 
tended is  a  most  lovely  and  charming  creature ;  ...  he 
introduced  her  one  night  here  to  my  family,  who  were 
delighted  with  her. 

And  here  is  another,  which  ought  to  be  familiar.  It  is 
very  hirsute,  but  perhaps  not  exceedingly  like — yet  may 
be,  a  better  bodily  resemblance  than  that  spiritual  image 
of  himself  which  this  unlucky  devil  has  been  setting  before 
himself  any  time  these  four  and  twenty  years —  .... 

But  it  is  striking  three  while  I  write,  so  I  will  put  off 
the  finish  till  to-morrow. 

Blackfriars, 

Saturday  night,  January  8. 

Here  of  course  has  been  another  delay  of  a  week,  and 
perhaps  with  some  ingenuity  I  might  manage  to  prove 
that  I  have  been  less  to  blame  than  usual.  Mais  a  qiioi 
ban  ?  I  wonder  again  as  I  write,  under  what  extraordinary 
conditions  of  being  you  may  read  this,  and  whether  Bate- 
man  and  Bernhard  are  present  now  (i.e.  your  now),  and 
how  they  are  occupied.     O  for  a  state  of  coma  ! 

I  had  a  gathering  here  last  night,  at  which  almost  every 
one  was  present — neither  was  Woolnerius  utterly  absent  : 
the  daguerreotype  being  set  open  over  the  mantelpiece. 
You  cannot  imagine  what  delightful  rooms  these  are  for  a 
party,  regularly  built  out  into  the  river,  and  with  windows 
on  all  sides — also  a  large  balcony  over  the  water,  large 
enough  to  sit  there  with  a  model  and  paint — a  feat  which 


48  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

I  actually  accomplished  the  other  day  for  several  hours 
in  the  teeth  of  the  elements.  I  have  got  those  four  sketches 
of  yours  framed  and  hung  up,  with  the  inscription  you 
wrote  on  board  :  other  Woolnerian  relics  are  also  about 
— Bateman's  geometrical  eye,  however,  would  suffer 
acutely  in  this  crib,  as  it  has  settled  into  the  river  and  put 
all  the  lines  awry.  I  remember  his  sufferings  at  the 
Hermitage  from  similar  causes.  Hug  that  dear  old 
fellow  for  me,  and  tell  him  that  the  time  I  spent  with  him 
this  summer  was  one  of  the  jolliest  of  my  life.  To  him 
and  to  Bernhard  the  Stunner,  I  shall  lay  in  energy  to 
redeem  very  soon  my  epistolary  promise.  Meanwhile  this 
letter  is,  of  course,  as  much  to  them  as  to  you.  I  have 
not  seen  Mrs.  &  Miss  Howitt  for  some  time,  purely,  I 
confess,  from  absolute  shame  lest  they  should  ask  me 
whether  I  had  yet  written  to  any  of  you.  Now,  however, 
being  strong  in  the  consciousness  of  comparative  recti- 
tude, I  shall  post  a  letter  to  Miss  Howitt  at  the  same  time 
with  this  one,  to  ask  her  to  fix  an  evening  when  I  can 
take  my  sisters  to  the  Hermitage,  a  subject  long  in  debate 
between  us. 

Pray  remember  me  most  kindly  to  Mr.  Howitt  and  his 
son.  .  .  .  Hug  Bernhard  and  tell  him  I  called  on  his 
brother  one  day  at  Brixton,  but  finding  him  out  could  only 
leave  my  card,  a  proceeding  by  the  bye,  which  no  doubt 
appears  to  you  now,  in  your  abnormal  dignity,  extremely 
contemptible.  I  shall  try  my  luck  again  some  day.  Has 
North  yet  found  his  way  to  the  diggins  ?  Bliss  has,  for 
I  met  him  about  a  month  after  you  left,  and  he  was  just 
going  to  start  by  steamer.     So  you  may  expect  him  !  !  ! 

Last  night  at  my  party,  it  was  agreed  that  all  your 
intimates  here  should  meet  at  a  certain  day  and  hour,  the 
equivalent  of  which  was  to  be  found  by  you  Australians 
(as  in  the  case  of  the  Christmas  pipe),  for  some  act  of 
communication,  the  nature  of  which  was  left  for  me  to 
decide.  I  therefore  fix  that  on  the  12th  of  April  (which 
will  keep  us  clear  of  the  Exhibition  burners)  at  12  o'clock 
in  the  day,  we  shall  each  of  us,  wheresoever  we  be,  make  a 
sketch  of  some  kind  (mutual  portraits  preferable) — or  for 
any  who  do  not  draw,  some  verses  or  a  letter — and  im- 
mediately exchange  them  by  post,  between  London  and 
Melbourne  (or  whatever  other  address  you  may  send  us 
by  that  time).     I  think  this  will  be  as  good  as  anything. 

And  by  the  bye,  this  brings  me  to  art — ^the  last  thing 


ROBERT    BROWNING,    1856 


[To  face  page  49. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  49 

with  me  as  usual-— you  have  heard,  I  beheve,  that  I  have 
got  rid  of  my  white  picture  to  an  Irish  maniac.  There 
are  two  Dantesque  sketches  of  mine  at  a  Winter  Exhibition 
in  Pall  Mall — one  which  you  remember  my  making  at 
Highgate,  and  another  which  I  hope  to  paint  some  day  or 
other,  to  be  called  "  The  Youth  of  Dante."  The  main 
incident  is  that  old  one  of  mine,  of  Giotto  painting  Dante, 
but  treated  quite  differently  from  anything  you  have  seen, 
and  with  the  figures  of  Cimabue,  Cavalcante,  Beatrice, 
and  some  other  ladies.  It  illustrates  a  passage  in  the 
Purgatory  which  perhaps  you  know,  where  Dante  speaks 
of  Cimabue,  Giotto,  the  two  Guidos  (Guinicelli  and  Caval- 
cante, the  latter  of  whom  I  have  made  reading  aloud  the 
poems  of  the  former  who  was  then  dead)  and,  by  implica- 
tion, of  himself.  For  the  introduction  of  Beatrice,  who 
with  the  other  women  (their  heads  only  being  seen  below 
the  scaffolding)  are  making  a  procession  through  the 
church.  I  quote  a  passage  from  the  Vita  Nuova.  I  have 
thus  all  the  influences  of  Dante's  youth — Art,  Friendship 
and  Love — with  a  real  incident  embodying  them.  The 
combination  is,  I  think,  the  best  which  has  yet  occurred 
to  me  in  illustration  of  this  period  of  the  poet's  life,  and 
the  design  is  certainly  about  the  best  I  have  made.  I  have 
done  many  other  designs  lately,  but  have  bored  you  so 
long  about  this  one  that  the  rest  can  wait.  I  find  I  am 
pretty  certain  of  selling  any  water  colour  drawings  I  make, 
and  advantageously,  the  two  exhibited  having  excited  a 
good  deal  of  attention  and  (unpalateable)  praise.  I  am 
now  working  with  a  vague  reference  to  the  Exhibition 
of  this  year,  but  on  that  vexatious  subject  shall  defer 
speaking  till  my  next.  Every  one  who  writes  will  of  course 
tell  you  about  his  own  performances,  so  that  I  may  confine 
myself  to  mine.  To-day  I  saw  the  new  frescoes  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  Herbert  is  rigid.  Cope  frigid,  .  .  . 
Watts  truculent,  .  .  .  This  I  think  is  all  the  Art  News 
afloat  just  at  present. 

And  now,  dear  Woolner,  with  a  strong  present  recollec- 
tion of  the  many  days  and  nights  we  have  been  jolly  or 
sulky  together,  and  a  warm  anticipation  of  those  which  I 
hope  we  shall  yet  live  to  see, 

I  remain  always. 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

d.  g.  rossetti. 

Thomas  Woolner  P.R.B. 


50  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

14,  Chatliam  Place, 

Blackfriars  Bridge, 
London, 

April  16,  1853. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

This  letter  is  accompanied  by,  or  rather  accompanies, 
the  sketches  made  by  the  P.R.B.'s  now  in  London,  on  the 
12th,  according  to  the  appointment  which  I  made  in  my 
last  letter  to  you.  This  however,  I  now  fear,  may  not 
have  reached  in  time  for  yourself,  Bernhard  and  Bateman 
to  have  reciprocated  as  they  are  proposed.  And  indeed 
it  even  seems  by  the  last  news  I  have  of  you,  that  you  are 
no  longer  all  together.  I  trust  that  you  are  now  doing 
better  than  your  £20  apiece  in  3  weeks  at  the  Ovens,  though 
indeed  I  suppose  even  that  is  rather  beyond  the  average, 
is  it  not  ?  I  last  night  saw  your  Father,  who  had  not  yet 
received  this  news  of  you  which  reached  me  through  the 
Howitts ;  and  to-day  I  have  written  to  the  same  to  Mr. 
Edward  Smith,  as  your  father  felt  sure  that  he  also  must 
be  ignorant  of  it.  Your  "  Sea-Log"  gave  me  the  greatest 
pleasure  I  have  had  for  a  very  long  while.  I  am  glad  and 
surprised  to  find  how  well  you  managed  as  a  sailor,  though 
many  of  your  fellow-passengers  seem  by  your  account 
to  have  been  fiendish  enough  for  the  pit  of  Achevon,  or 
for  that  voyage,  unaccompanied  by  cares  of  outfit,  across 
the  River  Styx.  However,  I  hope  something  is  to  be 
allowed  for  a  Carlylian  kaleidoscope  (or  rather  Kakeido- 
scope)  and  for  those  peculiar  Woolnerian  idiosyncrasies 
which  set  me  roaring  many  times  before  I  had  got  through 
the  little  book.  The  descriptions  of  sunsets,  etc.,  are 
really  glorious  and  altogether  the  thing  gives  one  as  intimate 
a  knowledge  of  your  sea-life  as  if  one  had  made  the  voyage 
with  you.  By  the  by,  though,  I  was  quite  angry  at  hearing 
no  more  of  Bateman  towards  the  close — it  almost  looks  as 
if  you  had  quarrelled,  though  of  course  this  was  not  the 
casfe. 

•  ••••• 

Your  letter  was  read  aloud  on  Tuesday  morning  (the 
day  the  sketches  were  made  and  the  day  after  I  got  it) 
at  breakfast  at  Millais',  where  we  met  to  draw,  and  after- 
wards spent  the  evening  together  here.  I  could  not  and 
need  not  say  all  that  we  said  and  conjectured  about  you. 
Are  not  Hunt's  sketches  wonderful  ?  They  are  made 
with  ''  Swiss  chalks  "  not  Creta  Levis.  The  "  Swiss  "  are 
softer  than  the  Creta,  but  I  think  much  more  beautiful 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  51 

in  colour.  Hunt  will  send  you  out  some  of  both.  Some 
of  William's  sketches  are  very  rich.  My  Hunt  is  uni- 
versally pronounced  to  resemble  Rush  on  his  trial.  I  am 
therefore  bound  to  say,  that,  while  it  was  made  I  distinctly 
remember  Hunt's  wishing  that  he  could  hang  Rowland 
Hill,  for  increasing  the  burden  of  his  correspondence 
through  the  penny  postage.  This  may  probably  account 
for  the  murderous  expression.  But  by  the  by,  I  ought 
only  to  write  on  one  side  of  this  thin  paper,  or  I  fear  it 
will  be  illegible  by  the  time  it  reaches  Australia.  I  have 
seen  Mrs.  &  Miss  Howitt  frequently  since  you  left. 
They  have  made  the  Hermitage — especially  the  ''  nest  " — 
a  perfect  fairy  palace.  I  was  there  on  the  evening  of  the 
13th  to  show  them  the  sketches,  and  they  read  me  long 
passages  from  Mr.  Howitt's  letters,  among  others  the  one 
describing  your  coming  up  with  him  on  the  road.  What 
a  wonderful  life.  When  you  write  again,  make  sketches 
in  the  margin  of  yourself  Bernhard  &  Bateman  (if  then 
with  you)  in  your  present  disguises.  But  perhaps  after 
all  my  letter  may  have  reached  and  we  shall  get  portraits 
in  return  for  ours.  I  fear  this  letter  must  be  a  short  one, 
as  I  have  got  to  take  it  and  the  sketches  to  Mrs.  Howitt  <a 
to-day,  that  they  may  go  in  a  parcel  of  hers.  But  I  will  ^ 
write  again  soon. 

I  have  been  going  very  often  to  the  Ormes,  though  not 
now  for  nearly  a  cncnvh.  I  shrJI  probably  go  again  in  a 
night  or  two.  Mrs.  Orme  gave*  llie  this  foreign  paper  to 
write  to  yoli  on,  and  we  were  to  have  written  a  joint  letter. 
But  this  n^ur.t  be  for  the  next  tirpe,  as  I^afti  so  hurried  to- 
day. What  fiieixdly  hospitable  peoiJl^  they  ^11  are  !  Miss 
Orme  and  Miss  Andrews  spent  an  evening  at  Arlington 
Street  ^v/.ith^  my  family,  and  seemed  to  be  struck  with 
wonderment  by  the  cuneiform  character '6^, the  Governor, 
with  whom  they  ]Dla,yed 'so.me  ganies  of  Chess, — regarding 
him  apparently  in  as  'nlysterrous'  a  light  as  the  Rosetta 
stone  itself.  (This  pun  is  almost  punishment  enough  for 
the  swarm  with  which  you  used  to  afflict  me.)  He  (the 
G.)  wrote  some  Italian  verses  in  Miss  Orme's  album  lately 
at  her  request.  William  also  wrote  something  inscrutably 
metaphysical — Christina  something  rather  intense — and  I, 
the  sonnet  on  the  next  page,  addressed  to  yourself  in 
imagination  some  time  before,  on  the  9th  February,  which 
was  the  first  evening  of  snow  in  London  this  past  winter, 
and  by  Primrose  Hill. 


52  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

"  Woolner,  to-night  it  snows  for  the  first  time. 
Our  feet  knew  well  the  path,  wherein  the  snow 
Mine  leave  one  track.     How  all  the  ways  we  know 
Are  hoary  in  the  long  unwonted  rime  ! 
Grey  as  their  ghosts,  which  now  in  your  new  clime 
Must  haunt  you,  while  those  singing  spirits  reap 
All  night  the  fields  of  hospitable  sleep, 
Whose  song,  pass'd  the  whole  sea — finds  counter- chime. 
Can  the  year  change,  and  I  not  think  of  thee. 
With  whom  so  many  changes  of  the  year. 
So  many  years  were  watched ;  our  love's  degree 
Alone  the  same  ?     Ah  !  still,  for  thee  and  me. 
Winter  or  Summer,  Woolner,  here  or  there. 
One  grief,  one  joy,  one  loss,  one  victory." 

This  is  the  only  verse  I  think,  (or  almost)  that  I  have 
written  since  you  left, — except  something  de  rigueur  on 
the  Duke  of  Wellington,  which  I  keep  as  a  monument  of 
the  universal  influence  of  public  frenzy  even  on  the  most 
apathetic.  I  told  you  in  my  last  that  I  had  sold  my  old, 
old  white  picture  ^  at  last  to  a  man  in  Ireland — a  certain 
M'Cracken  who  bought  Hunt's  "  Gentleman  and  a  half 
of  Verona."  Said  M'C.  afterwards  sent  said  white  daub  to 
Ruskin,  to  whom  he  had  wanted  me  to  submit  it  as  a 
preliminary  to  the  purchase  which  I  had  sternly  refused. 
Ruskin's  opinion  (I  suppose),  has  induced  him  to  give  me 
a  commission  for  £150,  and  I  have  chosen  a  subject  of  the 
"  Virgin  in  the  house  of  St.  John  "  which  I  am  now  about. 
There  is  another  man  at  liverjpool  v/ho  has.  seen  the  white 
abomination  &  wants  a  picture  of  mine,  but- 1, have  said 
his  best  plan  will  -be  to  wait  till  I  have  something  ready 
for  him,  as  I  .find  akeady  with  M'C's  picture'  that'  I  shall 
be  making  it  worth  -mDre.-  than  tiie  stipulated  sum'.  M'C. 
sent  me  a  passage  from  a  letter  of  Ruskin's  about  my 
Dantesque  s>k:etches  exhibited  this  year  at  the/  Winter 
Gallery  of  which,!  spoke  to  you  in  my  last.  *.R.  goes  into 
raptures  about  the  .color,  aiid 'grouping:  which  he  says 
are  superior  to  anything  in  modern  art — which  I  believe 
is  almost  as  absurd  as  certain  absurd  objections  which  he 
makes  to  them.  However,  as  he  is  only  half  informed 
about  Art  anything  he  says  in  favor  of  one's  work  is  of 
course  sure  to  prove  invaluable  in  a  professional  way, 
and  I  only  hope,  for  the  sake  of  my  rubbish,  that  he  may 
have  the  honesty  to  say  publicly  in  his  new  book  what  he 
has  said   privately,  but  I  doubt   this,   Oh  1    Woolner,   if 

1  "  The  Annunciation."     The  angel  in  the  picture  was  painted  from 
Woolner — the  head,  hair  and  poise  of  the  head  being  characteristic. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  53 

one  could  only  find  the  "  supreme  "  Carlylian  Ignoramus, 
him  who  knows  positively  the  least  about  Art  of  any 
living  creature — and  get  him  to  write  a  pamphlet  about 
one — what  a  fortune  one  might  make.  It  now  seems 
that  Ruskin  had  never  seen  any  work  of  mine  before, 
though  he  never  thought  it  necessary  to  say  this  in  writing 
about  the  P.R.B. 

I  have  said  all  this  to  you  about  my  "  professional 
prospects  "  (ahem  !) — a  subject  on  which  I  am  always 
profoundly  speechless — because  I  know  your  friendship  is 
really  interested  to  know  that  there  is  a  prospect  of  my 
getting  on  all  right  if  I  can  make  myself  work. 

How  queer  that  Mr.  Latrobe  should  have  your  "  Red 
Riding  Hood."  I  remember  you  were  working  at  that 
the  first  time  I  ever  saw  you.  I  feel  quite  confident  as  to 
portraiture  in  Australia,  in  case  digging  fails. 

Hermitage, 
Highgafe, 

Half  past  3. 

I  have  just  been  taken  with  an  idea  that  Mrs.  Howitt's 
Australian  packet  would  start  without  this  missive,  and 
have  therefore  hurried  down  here,  and  finish  this  letter  in 
Miss  Howitt's  nest.  She  is  engaged  copying  a  portrait 
of  Mr.  Howitt  on  the  wood,  to  be  engraved  in  the  Exhi- 
bitor, and  has  just  been  saying  that  she  misses  Bate- 
man's  correct  eye  for  corrections.  You  could  scarcely 
imagine  how  elegant  and  habitable  this  room  has  been 
made  since  the  days  of  my  savage  bivouac  in  it. 

You  will  be  quite  surprised  to  hear  that  my  family  are 
going  to  settle  in  Somersetshire.  My  mother  &  Christina 
are  already  gone,  and  my  father,  whose  health  I  hope  will 
benefit  by  the  change,  is  to  follow  as  soon  as  ever  they  are 
a  little  comfortable.  Maria  and  William  remain  in  London. 
I  shall  then  have  a  pied  a  terre  whenever  I  am  able  to  get 
into  the  country,  which  will  be  very  jolly,  but  I  shall  miss 
them  here,  as  I  have  been  getting  more  domesticated  of  late. 

Let  me  think  now  about  news  of  friends.  Hunt  has 
sent  three  pictures  into  the  R.A. — "  Strayed  Sheep," 
"  Measure  for  Measure,"  and  "  Portrait  of  a  Parson  " — 
all  glorious.  His  figure  of  Christ  in  the  moonlight  he  was 
after  all  unable  to  get  finished — this  is  the  best  thing  he  has 
yet  done.  He  starts  for  the  East,  he  at  present  believes, 
about  August,  and  Seddon  goes  with  him.  Millais  has 
sent  in  two  pictures — "  The  Release,"  an  episode  from  the 


54  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Jacobite  period,  and  "  The  Proscribed  Royalist  " — a 
subject  of  the  Commonwealth,  both  very  remarkable 
works  indeed.  Brown,  who  has  become  a  Hampstead 
hermit,  and  who  would  not  attend  our  meeting  on  the 
twelfth,  has  only  sent  one  which  I  think  you  saw,  called 
"The  English  Fireside."  Collins  has  sent  one  little  figure, 
but  was  baulked  with  his  chief  work.  Collinson  has  gone 
into  a  Jesuit  college  somewhere  in  the  country  (  !  )  and  I 
suppose  will  never  paint  more.  Deverell  sent  in,  I  think, 
five  pictures,  of  various  merit,  but  some  really  excellent. 
Cross  has,  I  know,  sent  his  "  Becket,"  though  I  was  unable 
to  the  last  to  call  and  see  it.  Stephens  has  sent  a  portrait 
of  his  father.  Munro  has  got  several  groups  and  sketches 
the  chief  one — portraits  of  some  children — very  beautiful 
I  think.  He  came  in  at  Millais'  while  we  were  making 
the  sketches  the  other  day,  and  did  a  profile  of  William, 
which  accompanies  his  best  remembrances  to  you. 
Hughes,  always  behindhand  like  myself,  began  something 
at  the  last  moment,  and  did  not  finish.  I  of  course  do  not 
send  at  all,  though  I  have  several  things  still  in  hand.  .  .  . 
Anthony  has  sent  a  picture  16  ft.  high,  of  a  part  of  Windsor 
forest,  and  another  smaller  one,  both  full  of  beauties.  He 
has  cut  Suffolk  St.  Hannay  is  married  and  (I  really 
believe)  settled.  He  does  not  come  to  one's  parties  when 
one  asks  him  ! — ^though  perhaps  this  may  be  owing  to  his 
having  been  very  ill  with  rheumatism  both  before  and 
since  his  marriage — a  lamentable  infliction.  He  was 
obliged  to  marry  in  a  great  hurry  at  the  last,  owing  to  his 
wife's  family  starting  for  your  Austraha,  where  they  now 
are.  Her  father,  Mr.  Thompson,  is  director  of  a  branch 
of  the  Oriental  bank  now  established  at  Melbourne.  She 
is  I  think  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  charming  girls  I 
ever  met  with. 

You  see  I  have  adopted  writing  on  both  sides  as  I  have 
no  more  of  this  paper  here,  but  I  hope  this  will  be  legible. 
I  find  there  will  be  a  week's  delay  in  the  sending  of  Mrs. 
Howitt's  parcel,  so  that  I  have  no  doubt  a  good  many 
other  letters  from  our  circle  will  accompany  this.  I  shall 
myself  try  to  write  also  to  Bernhard  and  Bateman. 

Arlington  Street, 

April  17. 

Yesterday  finding  I  had  so  much  time,  I  relinquished  this 
letter  for  a  walk  with  Miss  Howitt  and  her  little  sister, 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  55 

I  suppose  there  is  more  news  to  tell  you  if  one  could 
only  think  of  it.  The  R.A.  will  be  a  thin  exhibition  it 
seems  this  year,  but  I  shall  be  able  to  speak  more  on  this 
world  important  matter  when  it  has  opened.  Coventry 
Patmore  has  published  his  poems  at  last.  "  Tamerton 
Church  Tower  "  is  the  name  by  which  he  now  calls  the 
"  Storm."  I  believe  there  has  been  as  yet  but  one  review 
of  them  {Athenceum)  favorable  but  rather  supercilious. 
I  have  not  seen  the  volume.  Its  author  does  not  intend 
to  give  any  copies  at  all — a  piece  of  news  which  he  told 
Millais.  ...  I  see  to-day  William  has  got  another  invite 
from  his  lady,  saying  at  length  that  she  supposes  it  is  no 
use  asking  me.  She  has  done  so  without  effect  several 
times  between  this  and  your  departure.  I  almost  think 
I  shall  go  down  this  time  for  a  lark.  .  .  .  Nothing  is 
talked  of  just  now  but  Alexander  Smith.  You  will  remem- 
ber this  genius  appearing  in  a  fragmentary  state  in  the 
Critic.  Do  you  know  I  rather  fancy  we  did  not  then  quite 
do  him  justice,  full  of  faults  as  he  certainly  is.  I  looked 
slightly  over  a  copy  of  his  vol.  which  Mrs.  Orme  asked 
me  to  get  for  her,  and  I  see  he  is  quite  marvellously  re- 
dundant of  some  qualities,  at  any  rate  I  shall  read  him. 
It  seems  he  is  coming  to  London  to  divide  the  honors 
with  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe.  Hannay  knows  someone  who 
knows  him  and  I  have  no  doubt  I  shall  turn  him  up  some- 
how. It  seems  he  is  some  Glasgow  nobody  of  about  23  or 
24,  who  has  been  in  the  habit  of  existing  by  drawing 
patterns  for  linen  drapers,  so  I  suppose  he  is  an  artist  of  a 
sort. 

"  Within  a  city  one  was  born  to  toil 
Whose  heart  might  not  mate  with  the  common  doom 
To  fall  like  a  spent  arrow  in  the  grave." 

This  is  very  fine  I  think,  and  seems  to  have  been  quite 
his  own  case.  It  seems  he  has  actually  got  £100  from 
Boque  for  his  poems  ! — owing  to  the  puffing  that  has 
gone  on  during  the  past  year.  Allingham  is  heard  of  by 
nobody.  I  am  sure  he  must  be  masticating  his  identity 
in  a  frightful  way  out  at  Ballyshannon  about  the  news  of 
Alex.  Smith.  I  should  think  that  nothing  were  more  likely 
than  its  bringing  him  up  to  London  to  do  battle  with  tooth 
and  nail  :  I  have  read  nothing  I  think  since  you  went, 
except,  I  must  not  forget  to  say,  St.  Augustine's  Con- 
jessions,   a  delightful  book.     I  am  just  going  to  try  to 


56 


THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 


read  Carlyle's  Goethe's  Wilhelm  Meister,   which  Hannay 
has  lent  me. 

Good-bye,  dear  Tommaso.     Write  as  soon  as  you  can, 


Thomas  Woolner  as  **  Fire  Fiend." 
Sketch  by  D.  G.  Rossetti  in  letter  of  April  16,  1853. 

and  tell  me  all  news,  over  which  I  wonder  and  puzzle 
as  to  what  it  will  really  be.  Give  my  love  to  Bernhard 
and  Bateman,  but  I  hope  energy  will  aid  me  to  write  to 
them  before  the  parcel  starts,  and  that  news  will  serve 
which  is  another  necessary.     Brown  wrote  to  me  yesterday 


STONE    STATUE    OF    BACON    IN    POSITION,    OXFORD    MUSEUM 


[To  face  page  5G. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  57 

to  say  how  heartily  he  wanted  to  be  remembered  to  you, 
though  he  did  not  attend  the  sketching  reunion. 

Your  D.  G.  R. 

April  22. 

P.S. — I  have  forgotten  to  give  you  news  of  Scott  .^  He 
has  been  in  town  once  since  July  last,  and  then  made  his 
stay  with  us  at  Camden  Town  for  a  week  or  two.  Part 
of  this  time  the  poor  stunner  was  laid  up,  and  I  hear  has 
continued  more  or  less  unwell  ever  since.  He  has  not 
yet  published  his  poems  though  I  believe  he  is  getting 
them  under  way.  He  has  sent  a  picture  of  "  Fair  Rosa- 
mond "  in  3  compartments  to  the  Academy.  Hunt  and 
I  the  other  evening  amused  ourselves  at  the  old  game  of 
sketching  friends  from  memory.  Here  is  a  historical 
portrait  of  you  which  I  did.  Send  me  in  return  one  of 
yourself  under  your  present  metamorphosis.  In  mine 
you  will  see  that  the  accessory  alligator  is  on  the  epic 
scale. 

I  should  not  forget  to  say  how  much  Scott  always  talks 
of  you  and  wishes  to  be  remembered  to  you.  No  one  I 
know  will  enjoy  your  journal  more  than  he.  By  the 
bye,  you  must  understand  that  people  are  always  sending 
their  affections  to  you  against  I  write,  but  you  know  my 
sad  memory  in  these  matters.  I  met  Cox  one  day  in  an 
omnibus,  and  he  talked  much  of  your  affairs.  I  must 
manage  to  let  him  see  your  journal  as  he  seemed  most 
friendly. 

P. P.S. — As  Bateman  is  probably  I  suppose  still  away 
from  you,  I  write  to  him ;  but  not  having  news  for  three, 
must  put  off  writing  to  Bernhard  till  I  have.  Give  him 
my  love. 

F.  G.  Stephens  to  T.  Woolner 

59,  Walcot  Place, 

Kensington  Road,  London, 

April  21,  1853. 
Dear  Woolner, 

I  have  short  notice  to  write  to  you  and  shall  not  be 
able  to  send  quite  such  a  lengthy  epistle  as  my  last  in 
December.     However  here  goes  to  make  the  best  of  it. 

^  W.  B.  Scott,  the  poet  and  painter. 


58  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

We  had  a  meeting  the  other  day  according  to  agreement 
made  by  Gabriel  Rossetti  with  yourself  by  letter,  it  was 
held  at  his  chambers  whence  we  adjourned  to  Rochester 
or  rather  to  correct  an  Irishism,  we  intended  to  get  there 
but  the  weather  was  so  bad  that  it  was  resolved  to  stop 
at  Blackwall,  where  we  had  dinner,  most  of  us  over-eating 
ourselves,  excepting  Gabriel. 

We  agreed  then  to  meet  at  Millais'  house  on  the  Friday 
and  make  the  sketches,  which  was  done,  and  I  understand 
you  are  to  receive  them  with  this.  You  will  recognize 
doubtless  the  ghastly  countenance  of  one  of  your  Friends, 
which  J.  E.  M.  drew. — I  made  an  attempt  at  his  most 
splendid  head,  but  the  failure  was  utter  and  in  spite  of  all 
the  tauntings  he  could  pronounce,  with  proddings  from 
Hunt,  I  viciously  refused  to  proceed.  You  will  I  hope 
forgive  me,  when  I  add  that  I  was  very  ill  or  so  sick  at  heart 
from  some  bad  news  I  had  just  received  that  any  noise 
was  w^elcome,  but  actual  thought  seemed  almost  madness. 
I  am  giddy  still  at  times. — However,  Hunt,  with  his  inde- 
fatigable affection  for  me  leaned  over  my  shoulder  and 
altered  it,  so  that  it  may  be  just  recognizable  for  the  hand- 
some Johnny's  head.  He  blew  up  furiously  and  has  not 
forgiven  the  slander  yet. 

I  must  mass  all  the  news  together  anyhow,  and  hope 
to  hit  upon  something  which  others  may  forget.  Jack 
Tupper  has  gone  to  Oxford  to  see  about  an  appointment, 
which  was  offered  to  Hunt ;  on  his  rejection  and  passing 
it  on  to  me,  it  was  again  declined,  when  Jack  accepted 
the  berth  and  since  Xmas  has  had  it  in  negociation. 

I  am  writing  in  my  own  room  at  Walcot  Place. 

I  shall  not  say  anything  of  the  Rossettis,  or  Hunt, 
because  I  know  they  are  writing  to  you.  G.  Patmore 
is  still  at  Fairlight  and  is,  I  understand,  undecided  about 
going  to  the  Church  or  going  to  Australia.  I  had  a  note 
from  him  on  Monday  :  with  which  he  sends  a  copy  of  his 
Brother's  Poems,  the  new  edition,  for  me. 

• 

Lear  has  a  picture  at  the  B.I.  which  is  capital,  he  delights 
to  acknowledge  his  obligations  to  Hunt  for  instruction 
while  they  were  staying  at  Fairlight  together.  He  goes 
everywhere  saying  that  Hunt  taught  him  all  he  knows 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  59 

and  he  has  improved  wonderfully.  Millais  has  obtained 
£500  for  the  copyright  of  one  of  his  pictures  he  sends  to 
R.A.  this  year.  Deverell  sends  five  pictures  to  R.A. 
small  and  large.  He,  I  hear  from  Gabriel,  contemplates 
to  take  a  part  in  some  Comedy  which  is  to  be  acted  at 
Richmond  shortly,  with,  I  fancy,  a  view  to  going  on  to 
the  stage. 

•  ••••• 

I  was  dining  in  Arlington  St.  the  other  day  when  your 
Father  brought  the  journal  you  sent  him.  William 
Rossetti  brings  it  here  to-morrow  evening  when  I  shall 
have  an  opportunity  of  reading  it.  I  saw  your  letter  to 
Gabriel  and  am  glad  you  appear  to  have  had  so  pleasant 
a  voyage. 

Hunt  is  becoming  more  established  and  acknowledged 
every  day.  People  begin  to  see  more  in  the  old  stunner 
than  they  were  willing  to  do  at  first.  He  will  get  his  right 
place  at  last  I  know. 

Gabriel  has  looked  very  unwell  for  some  time,  seems  in 
a  curious  state  of  mind,  the  old  moodiness.  .  .  .  He  will 
doubtless  tell  you  of  the  Commissions  he  has  received. 
"  The  Annunciation  "  picture  you  will  remember,  he  has 
sold  to  McCracken  of  Belfast,  and  has  been  working  on  it 
with  great  success,  is  quite  another  thing,  well  worth 
three  times  £50  which  he  gets  for  it. 

I  have  nothing  to  add  but  good  wishes. 
Dear  Tommy. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Frederic  G.  Stephens. 


Direct  me  to  care  of 

Dr.  Godfrey  Hewitt, 
Collins  Street, 

Melbourne,  Victoria, 

July  10,  1853. 
My  dear  Father, 

I  received  your  parcel  of  letters  on  Friday  evening, 
July  8,  and  a  great  delight  it  was  to  me  hearing  you  were 
all  so  well. 

I  had  just  returned  from  the  Ovens  Diggings  after  a 
very  unsuccessful  expedition  there  and  the  Devil's  River 
and  felt  a  great  disinclination  to  send  you  such  bad  accounts 


60  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

as  I  must  have  done  had  I  written  at  all.  I  stayed  a  few 
days  in  Melbourne  and  started  with  Bernhard  and  two 
others  for  Fryer's  Creek  :  we  were  a  little  more  successful 
there  for  a  time  but  that  soon  failed  :  on  April  20,  we 
started  for  Bendigo  but  there  got  scarcely  a  speck  of  gold, 
and  after  sinking  hole  after  hole  in  vain  we  determined 
to  sell  off  tent,  tools,  etc.,  break  up  the  party  and  seek  our 
fortunes  by  other  means. 

Pinchin,  his  name  is  mentioned  in  my  journal,  and  a 
friend  of  his,  W.  Andrews,  have  taken  to  carting.  Bernhard 
has  gone  up  the  country  to  stay  with  a  friend  of  his.  I 
have  come  to  Melbourne  to  work  at  my  art.  There  is  every 
prospect  of  my  doing  well,  as  I  have  powerful  friends  who 
are  anxious  to  aid  me  in  every  way.  I  am  staying  at 
Dr.  Howitt's  and  the  kindness  of  his  family  to  me  is  won- 
derful. I  have  executed  a  medallion  of  the  Doctor,  one  of 
his  Excellency  and  another  of  little  Charles  Howitt.  They 
all  give  great  satisfaction  here  and  you  will  see  what  the 
newspaper  says  which  I  send  you.  Will  you  be  good 
enough  to  send  it  to  Mrs.  Howitt  at  the  Hermitage  when 
you  have  done  with  it  ?  If  I  get  some  commissions  which  I 
have  fair  hopes  of  I  shall  return  to  England  about  the 
middle  of  next  summer  to  execute  them.  .  .  .  Now  I  am 
fixed  in  town  I  can  write,  but  at  the  diggings  it  is  a  thing 
next  to  impossible. 

Tell  Henry  to  give  up  the  notion  of  gold-digging  at 
once,  henceforth  and  for  ever,  for  in  this  Colony  it  is  on 
the  average  the  poorest  occupation  going.  I  have  had 
as  much  experience  as  most  people  and  speak  from  certain 
knowledge.  All  the  glorious  accounts  we  read  in  the 
beginning  of  1852  were  quite  true.  I  know  numerous 
cases  more  wonderful  than  any  printed  in  newspapers, 
but  they  are  useless  to  give  any  details  of :  we  were  just 
8  months  too  late,  the  numbers  had  multiplied  vastly, 
the  richest  places  were  exhausted  or  so  loosened  by 
half  worked  holes  that  they  could  not  be  worked  any 
more  by  private  parties  and  now  altho'  occasionally  prizes 
are  found  the  greater  number  do  not  make  wages;  all 
sensible  people  give  it  up  and  take  to  their  businesses 
whatever  they  may  be  and  do  well.  If  you  are  asked  my 
opinion  upon  the  desirability  of  any  person  coming  here, 
say,  if  he  be  a  mechanic  or  a  labouring  man,  to  come  by 
all  means.  Carpenters  in  town  get  30/-  per  day,  other 
trades  more  or  less  according  to  demand.     No  labourer 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  61 

gets  less  than  30/-  per  week  and  food.  Contrast  this  with 
England  !  A  tradesman  with  common  sense  and  a  capital 
is  sure  of  making  a  great  deal  of  money,  but  no  pro- 
fessional man  w^ould  I  advise  to  come  here  to  practise  be 
it  what  it  may;  he  might  succeed  but  I  see  no  certainty. 
This  is  the  country  for  a  poor  hard  working  man.  Men 
owning  a  dray  and  2  horses  can  clear  £20  per  week. 

I  should  be  able  to  make  some  money  quickly  if  it  were 
not  for  the  difficulty  I  have  with  plaster  of  Paris,  that 
which  is  sent  from  England  gets  damp  with  sea  air  and  is 
spoilt  for  artistic  purposes.  I  had  a  piece  of  gypsum 
given  me  which  was  a  godsend,  and  have  to  break  it  to 
small  pieces,  then  bake  it  in  an  oven,  then  pound  it  finely 
in  a  mortar,  after  that  sift  it  thro'  fine  muslin  :  all  this 
before  one  cast  can  be  taken.  I  had  to  make  some  model- 
ling tools  ere  I  began  and  dig  in  the  earth  for  some  clay — 
this  I  could  do  to  perfection  after  my  8  months'  digging- 
experience — which  was  the  color  of  that  I  modelled 
"  Boadicea  "in.  I  have  my  tools  a  little  in  order  now  and 
mean  to  work  hard.  I  get  25  pounds  for  a  medallion 
here.  In  England  they  would  not  give  me  25  pence.  I 
should  ask  you  to  send  some  clay  and  tools  but  I  am  quite 
uncertain  when  I  shall  return.  ...  I  lost  a  little  over 
30  pounds  by  my  gold  digging  in  actual  outlay,  in  time 
and  chances  of  making  money  I  cannot  calculate,  for 
several  people  have  returned  home  whose  heads  I  might 
have  done.  I  got  gold  to  the  value  of  £50  and  the  expenses 
came  to  something  over  £80.  By  travelling  about  I  had 
the  best  opportunity  of  seeing  the  country  :  and  such  a 
country  and  air  !  The  winds  of  paradise  could  not  be 
more  pure  and  filled  with  living  brilliancy.  The  big  white 
cockatoos  fly  in  troops  against  a  sky  that  remains  blue, 
perfectly,  for  months  and  some  of  the  gum-trees  drop 
manna  more  delicious  than  any  confectionery  in  a  Regent 
Street  shop.  Bateman  and  Mr.  Howitt's  party  have  been 
more  unfortunate  than  we. 

•  ••••• 

Although  I  was  so  unsuccessful  pecuniarily,  yet  I  do  not 
regret  going  to  the  gold-fields,  it  has  made  me  strong 
and  more  vigorous  than  I  ever  felt  before,  and  given  me  an 
appreciation  of  home  comforts  that  makes  civilization 
more  delightful  than  it  was  till  now ;  and  above  all  things 
it  let  me  know  how  dearly  I  loved  my  friends  at  home, 


62  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

and  what   immense    delight    it    will    be    to   see   you    all 
again. 

•  ••••• 

I  have  just  paid  nearly  6  pounds  for  two  frames.  Most 
of  the  things  I  have  bought  have  been  6  and  12  times  the 
price  I  paid  in  England. 


July  15. 
This  is  the  day  I  left  England  and  this  year  has  given 
me  a  considerably  varied  experience  :  the  chief  lesson 
I  have  learned  is,  that  it  is  best  to  work  at  that  business 
you  have  learned.  The  Mornmg  Herald  gave  me  a  leader 
the  other  day,  this  is  thought  a  great  honour.  I  send 
you  the  paper  so  that  you  can  judge.  I  hope  earnestly 
for  the  statue  there  mentioned.  .  .  .  When  I  hear  anything 
definite  I  will  write  immediately;  do  you  write  me  news 
of  home  directly  you  receive  this.  .  .  .  The  Eagle  starts 
with  the  mail  to-morrow  and  I  must  write  a  note  to  Helen  ^ 
with  this. 

Tell  Rossetti  I  will  write  shortly  but  cannot  by  the 
present  post. 

Hoping  soon  to  see  you,  my  dear  father,  believe  me 
Your  loving  and  affectionate  son, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  W.  M.  Rossetti 

Extract  from  letter  of  September  16,  1853,  to  William 
Rossetti,  after  receiving  the  portraits  ^  by  the  members 
of  the  P.R.B. 

"  Your  brother's  drawing  of  you  is  a  very  great  boon 
to  me  :  It  looks  as  calmly  upon  me  as  your  own  face  was 
wont,  and  as  I  contemplate  it  my  own  soul  in  some  un- 
known way  holds  communion  with  yours  :  in  your  brother's 

1  Sister  of  T.  Woolner. 

^  Woolner  had  these  drawings  for  many  years  in  his  possession,  he  did 
not  sell  any  of  them :  he  gave  some  to  his  friend,  Mr.  H.  W.  Cosens, 
who  wrote  in  1876  to  thank  him  for  his  "  splendid  gift,"  and  how  he  will 
be  his  "  debtor  for  ever  and  ever."  The  portrait  of  D.  G.  Rossetti,  by 
W.  Holman  Hunt,  Woolner  exchanged  with  W.  M.  Rossetti  in  1882  for  a 
drawing  of  a  tree.  The  portrait  of  William  M.  Rossetti  by  his  brother 
D.  G.  Rossetti  was  sold  at  Sotheby's  when  the  family  left  VVelbeck  Street, 
after  the  death  of  the  sculptor's  wife,  1912. 


/ 


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[Photograph  by  W.  Jeffrey. 

ST.    JOHN  MOSES 

Two  of  the  bas-reliefs  on  the  pulpit  of  LlandafE  Cathedral, 


f 


{To  face  page  63. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  63 

first  letter  there  is  a  little  sketch  ^  of  you  fallen  asleep 

which  I  treasure  as  it  is  admirably  characteristic  in  two 

ways." 

Dr.  Howitfs, 

Collins  Street, 

Melbourne,  Victoria, 

December  13,  1853, 

My  dear  Father, 

Mr.  Duerdin  a  friend  of  Dr.  Howitt's  leaves  Mel- 
bourne in  a  few  days  for  England  and  offers  to  take  any 
little  parcels,  therefore  I  take  this  opportunity  of  sending 
some  daguerreotypes  and  little  nuggets  in  a  myall  box — the 
wood  is  a  native  of  this  country.  Will  you  let  Hunt  have 
one  of  my  likenesses?  And  give  the  Bashaw  one  of  the 
nuggets.  I  leave  this  place  very  shortly  for  Sydney  where- 
from  I  will  write  and  tell  what  I  am  doing  at  more  length. 
I  did  not  get  the  Queen's  statue  to  do  as  I  hoped  for  it  was 
allowed  to  drop  and  no  one  took  any  more  interest  in  it. 

Did  you  get  the  newspapers  I  sent  referring  to  it? 
There  was  talk  of  getting  up  a  statue  of  Mr.  La  Trobe  as 
a  testimonial,  but  that  is  now  changed  into  a  gold  cup 
and  plate  service — several  other  things  I  hoped  to  get 
have  died  away,  so  that  I  think  there  is  very  little  to  be 
done  here  :  however,  by  all  accounts  Sydney  is  likely  to 
prove  better,  if  it  do  not  I  shall  pack  up  traps  and  start 
for  home  sharply  or  I  shall  be  forgotten  entirely  by  the 
public  and  my  friends. 

•  ••••• 

Bateman  is  gone  back  to  the  Ovens  diggings  much 
against  the  wishes  of  his  friends  here  and  his  own  interest. 

•  ••••• 

We  have  some  fearfully  dusty  days  thro'  not  having 
had  rain  for  many  weeks;  it  is  a  perfect  misery  to  be  in 
the  town,  eyes  and  nose  smarting  and  throat  aching  with 
the  dust.  .  .  . 

These  are  fine  times  for  mechanics,  some  of  whom  get 
upwards  of  two  pounds  a  day  for  their  labour. 

•  ••••• 

I  often  wonder  if  Mr.  Haehnel  ^  has  called  upon  you 
since ;   if  you  do  see  him  give  him  my  kind  remembrances. 


^  The  sketch  of  William  Rossetti  fallen  asleep — in  the  letter  of 
January  1,  1853,  from  D.  G.  R.  to  T.  Woolner. 

^  Julius  Haehnel,  the  German  animal  sculptor,  whose  acquaintance 
Woolner  made  in  1849.     They  remained  always  the  best  of  friends. 


64  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

I  begin  to  grow  uncommonly  anxious  to  get  back  for  I 
feel  the  want  of  an  artistic  atmosphere.  I  saw  by  the 
papers  what  a  great  stir  the  P.R.B.'s  made  this  year.  I 
am  glad  Hunt  and  Rossetti  are  getting  on  at  last  and 
do  really  sell  their  works.  I  wish  I  had  known  how  to 
paint  portraits  in  oil.  I  might  have  made  plentj^  of 
money  in  no  very  great  time,  but  sculpture  requires  a 
very  hard  push  indeed  to  make  it  go  down  with  the 
public. 

I  hear  very  little  of  the  gold  fields  now,  tho'  I  believe 
they  are  in  much  the  same  state  as  when  you  heard  from 
me  last. 

•  ••••• 

How  often  I  wish  for  a  few  of  my  modelling  tools  for  I 
cannot  work  so  comfortably  with  the  tools  I  have  here  as 
with  those  at  home. 

•  ••••• 

I  often  wonder  how  the  children  will  look  when  I  see 
them  again.  Give  my  hearty  love  to  them  all.  ...  I 
will  tell  you  all  about  Sydney  when  I  get  there,  it  and  its 
vicinity  are  remarkably  beautiful  from  the  accounts  I 
hear.  .  .  . 

Your  most  affectionate  son, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


Direct  to 

Dr.  Howitt, 

Collins  Street, 

Melbourne,  Victoria  {as  before). 

Sydney,  January  24,  1854. 

My  dear  Father, 

You  see  I  have  changed  quarters  since  my  last  letter. 
I  worked  out  all  the  good  folks  I  could  get  to  sit  to  me  at 
Melbourne  and  came  here  chiefly  to  try  to  get  a  statue  of 
Wentworth,  the  Sydney  folks  have  been  subscribing 
towards  :  they  have  already  raised  nearly  3000  pounds.  I 
fear  I  have  but  little  chance,  tho'  I  am  the  only  sculptor, 
they  are  afraid  to  give  it  to  any  one  whose  name  they  are 
not  familiar  with.  The  bright  old  boy  Bailey  seems  to 
stand  the  best  chance  for  there  is  here  already  a  statue 
of  Sir  Richard  Bourke  by  him,  a  monstrously  ugly  thing 
but  that  is  no  matter.  The  people  here  are  very  well 
satisfied  with  it  and  so  they  would  have  been  if  it  had  been 
the  figure  head  of  an  old  ship  ! 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS  65 

That  statue  of  the  Queen  I  hoped  to  get  at  Melbourne 
dropt  to  the  ground  because  they  could  not  raise  funds  suffi- 
cient, or  I  stood  a  very  good  chance.  If  this  Wentworth 
statue  were  in  Melbourne  instead  of  Sydney  I  could  make 
almost  certain  of  it ;  but  here  I  have  no  friends  particularly 
interested  in  my  success.  Of  course  I  could  not  expect 
to  find  such  friends  as  the  Howitts.  I  might  wait  a  long 
time  for  that.  Sir  Charles  Nicholson,  Speaker  of  the 
Legislative  Council,  is  remarkably  civil  to  me  in  introducing 
me  about  and  inviting  me  to  his  house  etc.,  etc.,  but  what 
good  is  all  this  to  me,  unless  I  obtain  work  thro'  it  ? 

I  mean  to  give  2  or  3  weeks  more  and  if  I  fail  in  obtaining 
work  will  go  back  to  Melbourne  where  I  expect  to  do  a 
few  more  medallions,  after  which  I  will  pack  up  traps  and 
return  to  England.     I  can  say  nothing  certain  as  yet. 

Did  you  get  some  newspapers  with  long  notices  of  me  in 
them  ?  It  is  so  long  since  I  heard  any  news  of  you  I  think 
either  my  communications  or  yours  or  possibly  both  may 
have  been  lost. 

•  ••••• 

I  saw  by  the  papers  the  P.R.B.'s  did  great  things  at  the 
R.A.Ex.  Millais  seems  to  be  looked  on  as  one  of  the  great 
London  Lions.  I  should  wonder  but  little  if  the  Queer 
knighted  him  soon. 

It  is  a  great  pity  I  did  not  bring  a  few  specimens  of  my 
own  work  with  me.  They  would  have  been  of  infinite 
assistance.  The  medallions  of  Carlyle  and  Tennyson 
people  are  constantly  asking  for.  If  I  had  little  "  Puck  " 
here  I  know  I  could  get  some  commissions  for  him  in  bronze 
at  a  good  price.  I  wish  I  had  taken  more  pains  to  hunt 
up  reviews  of  my  works,  for  the  few  I  have  been  able  to 
get  are  of  great  assistance.  Those  from  the  Spectator 
particularly  as  it  is  celebrated  as  a  first-rate  critic  on  Art. 
I  wish  you  could  see  Sydney.  It  is  a  most  lovely  place. 
I  believe  from  what  celebrated  travellers  say  there  is 
scarcely  a  more  beautiful  harbor  in  the  world.  Trees  are 
close  down  to  the  water  except  where  the  hills  are  broken 
by  abrupt  picturesque  rocks.  The  Botanic  Gardens  are 
most  wonderfully  fertile,  not  a  tree,  plant,  flower  or  shrub 
can  be  mentioned  that  does  not  grow  here  in  glorious 
perfection.     English  and  Indian  plants  grow  side  by  side 


ee  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

European  and  American.  In  fact  they,  any  of  them, 
grow  just  as  well  as  the  native  grasses  and  shrubs.  I  hope 
you  will  write  to  me  as  soon  as  you  receive  this.  ...  It 
may  be  a  month  before  the  Wentworth  Statue  is  decided 
on. 

•  •••*• 

People  who  are  acquainted  with  useful  trades  here  make 
almost  as  good  wages  as  they  do  in  Melbourne,  tho'  there 
some  of  the  prices  given  for  labor  are  preposterous.  What 
think  you  of  plasterers  being  advertised  for  at  £3  per 
day  ?  In  London  a  good  one  gets  but  30^.  per  week^  a  con- 
siderable difference  this  :  stonemasons,  carpenters,  black- 
smiths and  such  kind  of  workmen  can  make  a  very  great 
deal  of  money.  The  people  who  suffer  most  hardships  are 
clerks  and  highly  educated  young  men  who  are  unac- 
quainted with  any  useful  business  or  profession  :  they  are 
longer  than  any  kind  of  persons  in  obtaining  employment 
at  all  fitting  them ;  but  notwithstanding,  any  fellow  deter- 
mined to  get  on  may  if  he  will  but  throw  overboard  any 
nonsensical  notion  of  dignity  he  may  be  troubled  with. 
Living  in  the  same  room  with  me  is  the  son  of  a  foreign 
nobleman,  who  wasted  what  money  he  had,  and  finding 
there  was  nothing  left  but  to  buckle  to,  as  he  knew  no 
friends,  he  got  employment  in  a  merchant's  office  and  he 
is  now  doing  very  well  :  and  this  is  a  fellow  accustomed  to 
all  kinds  of  luxury  and  with  the  best  possible  education. 

Give  my  best  love  to  Mother  and  tell  her  I  long  greatly 
to  be  back  and  see  her  and  the  children. 

I  wonder  if  you  have  heard  or  seen  anything  of  the 
Rossettis ;   it  seems  an  age  since  I  heard  of  them. 

•  ••••• 

Hoping  ere  long  to  see  you,  my  dear  father, 

Your  affectionate  son, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


D.  G.  RossETTi  TO  T.  Woolner 

14,  Chatlmm  Place, 

Blackfriars  Bridge,  London. 
Sunday,  February  5,  1854. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  began  a  letter  to  you  on  New  Year's  night,  but 
when  I  took  it  up  next  day  it  seemed  pitched  in  a  dreary 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS  67 

and  artificial  key,  though  true  I  believe  then  to  the  train 
of  thought  that  night  generally  brings  to  one.  I  tore  it 
up,  and  a  month  has  passed  since  then,  during  which  no- 
thing certainly  has  happened  to  make  my  letter  now  less 
melancholy.  I  ought  to  have  written  before,  but  have 
had  much  to  distract  me. 

You  will  grieve,  with  all  of  us,  to  hear  that  our  friend 
Walter  Deverell  died  on  the  2nd  of  this  month — three 
days  ago.  I  suppose  my  last  letter  to  you  was  scarcely 
late  enough  to  have  contained  the  news  that  he  was  very 
seriously  ill,  which  had  been  the  case  for  some  time 
past.  .  .  .  The  last  time  I  saw  him  was  less  than  a  fort- 
night ago,  but  it  was  only  for  a  few  minutes,  and  even  that 
against  his  doctor's  injunction.  .  .  .  He  said  to  me, 
"  however  I  must  not  holloa  before  I  am  out  of  the  wood." 
I  do  not  think  though  that  then  he  at  all  believed  himself 
in  imminent  danger.  Last  Thursday  morning  he  was 
told  he  could  not  live  through  the  day,  and  I  understand 
showed  no  emotion,  saying  he  supposed  he  was  man  enough 
to  die.  At  4  o'clock  he  died,  retaining  perfect  consciousness 
to  the  last,  and  without  particular  pain.  During  several 
months'  illness  he  had  suffered  much  at  times,  but  had  not 
taken  to  his  bed  till  very  lately.  He  continued  painting 
almost  to  the  last,  and  his  last  picture,  which  remains 
unfinished,  was,  strangely  and  sadly,  one  to  be  called  "  The 
Doctor's  Last  Visit,"  in  which  a  doctor  was  endeavouring 
to  break  the  news  to  a  family  that  there  was  no  hope  for 
the  patient.  This  was  a  design  which  I  remember  his 
making  at  the  time  we  lived  together,  and  I  am  sure  he 
took  it  up  lately  from  no  morbid  feeling,  such  being  quite 
foreign  from  his  nature ;  neither,  I  am  sure  from  what  he 
often  said,  and  wrote  to  me,  was  he  at  all  persuaded  then  of 
his  great  danger.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  and  his 
brothers  and  sisters  were  at  Chelsea,  whither  they  had 
removed  from  Kew  when  their  father  died  last  summer.  I 
believe  Deverell' s  last  illness  had  been  in  great  measure 
contracted  in  going  backwards  and  forwards  between  Kew 
and  the  School  of  Design,  returning  often  late  at  nights  in 
railway  coaches  full  of  draughts,  and  sometimes  even  walk- 
ing all  the  way,  most  likely  on  wet  nights  when  the  con- 
veyances were  least  attainable.  Sitting  out  in  all  weathers 
to  paint,  too,  was  no  doubt  one  cause,  and  you  know  how 
reckless  he  was  in  all  things  of  that  sort.  He  was  the 
eldest  left  of  what  one  might  almost  think  a  doomed  family. 


68  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

so  thickly  have  misfortunes  fallen  upon  it  within  the  last 
few  years.  What  the  others  will  now  do  without  him  is 
difficult  to  say.  ...  I  shall  accompany  poor  Deverell  to 
the  grave,  if  the  presence  of  a  stranger  will  not  give  pain 
to  the  family.  His  was  the  happiest  face  when  our  circle 
sat  together,  and  it  is  the  first  gone  that  may  not  return. 
None  of  us  had  known  him  so  long  or  perhaps  so  intimately 
as  I  had ;  and  these  very  lines  of  writing  seem  almost  cold 
and  shocking  to  me,  when  I  think  that  they  relate  to  him 
whose  heart  has  so  often  beat  with  mine  in  the  longing  which 
death  only  could  end  for  either ;  and  in  so  many  days  of  so 
many  hopes  already  forgotten.  Our  friendship  has  been 
long  enough  to  make  me  now  feel  old  in  looking  back  to  its 
source  :  and  yet  if  I  live  even  to  middle  age,  his  death  will 
seem  to  me  a  grief  of  my  youth.  May  God  have  blessed 
him,  and  bless  you  and  me. 

This  past  year,  too,  has  been  the  first  year  of  death  that 
I  remember  in  my  own  family.  In  its  spring,  we  lost 
my  grandmother;  and  at  its  close,  my  grandfather  also. 
The  death  of  the  former  had  long  been  looked  for,  nor  had 
I  seen  her  for  many  years,  as  she  was  confined  to  her  room 
and  saw  no  one  but  her  own  children,  and  my  sisters.  My 
grandfather  was  past  90  years  of  age,  but  a  wonderful  old 
man,  and  died  at  last  almost  suddenly  through  congestion 
of  the  brain ;  suffering  to  the  last  no  decay  of  intellect,  nor 
indeed  of  body  in  any  degree  commensurate  with  his  age. 
.  .  .  He  had  the  warmest  affection  for  me  and  all  his  grand- 
children, and  his  loss  is  a  great  loss  to  all  of  us. 

A  subject  of  the  greatest  anxiety  to  us  at  present  is 
my  father's  health.  I  think  you  know  that  for  about  a 
year  now,  he  has  been  living  in  Somersetshire  with  my 
mother  and  youngest  sister.  During  that  time  he  has 
become  much  reduced  in  every  way,  and  lately  we  received 
such  an  alarming  account  of  him,  that  my  sister  Maria, 
William  and  I,  went  down  together  at  once.  Since  then 
I.  am  thankful  to  say  he  has  got  rather  better,  and  next 
month  are  all  coming  to  settle  in  London  again.  You  are 
right  in  supposing  that  I  have  missed  them  greatly.  Prob- 
ably there  is  scarcely  a  man  who  at  his  outset  in  life  does 
not  turn  wanderer  in  one  way  or  other,  but  a  very  few  years 
are  enough  to  bring  one  to  wonder  at  the  peace  within  one's 
father's  house,  and  to  cherish  it  as  a  chief  blessing.  Shortly 
before  my  father  left  London,  I  made  a  full-length  drawing 
of  him,  seated  at  his  writing-table,  which  every  one  declares 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  69 

to  be  a  striking  likeness.  I  should  like  to  paint  a  portrait 
now,  but  he  could  not  bear  the  fatigue  of  sitting  :  I  did 
paint  one  some  years  ago,  of  a  large  size,  which  I  think  you 
never  saw,  and  which  was  sent  to  Scotland.  I  should  like  to 
hg-ve  it  now,  as  I  believe  it  was  a  fair  resemblance,  though 
not  a  very  first  rate  piece  of  painting. 

Tuesday,  February  7. 

To-day  I  attended  Deverell's  funeral.  Stephens,  Munro, 
and  Madox  Brown  were  present  also.  Millais,  who  had 
been  most  attentive  to  Deverell  during  his  illness,  did  not 
come;  you  know  his  excitable  nature,  and  I  fancy  he 
would  not  trust  himself. 

I  have  referred  as  yet  so  entirely  to  melancholy  subjects 
that  I  feel  as  if  I  still  owed  you  a  whole  letter ;  nor  have  I 
yet  spoken  of  the  matters  so  important  to  our  dear  friend 
Bateman,  to  which  your  last  letter  related.  On  getting 
that  letter  (the  duplicate  copy  reached  first)  I  went  the 
same  evening  to  Miss  Howitt,  and  showed  her  a  copy  of 
the  letter  which  I  made  .  .  .  she  has  relieved  me  from 
even  the  suspicion  of  seeming,  by  being  the  reporter  of 
her  words,  to  have  acted  any  but  a  friend's  part  towards 
Bateman. 

•  ••••• 

I  have  been  to  the  Hermitage  many  times,  and  many 
long  conversations  have  we  had  there  about  you  all.  I 
suppose  you  know  that  Miss  Howitt's  book,  The  Art  Student 
in  Munich,  has  been  very  successful.  I  am  sorry  to  say 
she  has  not  been  equally  so  with  a  picture  of  "  Faust's 
Margaret  "  which  she  finished  lately  and  sent  to  the  British 
Institution.  The  wretches  have  not  hung  it.  It  was  an 
open  air  picture,  in  sunlight,  a  most  difficult  task,  and  a  very 
good  picture.  I  have  not  seen  her  since  they  sent  it  back, 
and  hope  she  will  not  let  it  discourage  her.  But  I  do  not 
think  this,  for  I  never  knew  any  artist  with  more  genuine 
hopefulness  and  enthusiasm.  The  institution  snobs  have 
also  rejected  a  picture  by  W.  B.  Scott,  of  the  lovely  beloved 
old  market  place  at  Hexham,  between  Newcastle  and  Car- 
lisle. He  and  I  were  there  this  last  summer.  We  sat  and 
looked  at  the  market  place  from  the  deep  window  of  an 
inn  some  centuries  old,  and  talked  of  friends  for  one  plea- 
sant hour,  while  sun  and  air  seemed  whispering  together,  and 
the  "  hovering  pigeons  "  touched  the  street.  It  was  then 
that  Scott  determined  to  paint  the  scene,  and  now  these 


70  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

wretches  have  given  even  that  hour  its  unpleasant  side. 
I  have  not  seen  the  picture,  but  am  sure  it  must  be  good, 
from  Scott's  present  ideas  and  later  doings.  His  poems 
are  not  out  yet,  but  I  write  to  him  what  you  said  about  your 
copy  that  is  to  be,  and  he  will  take  care  you  get  it  as  soon 
as  published  : — but  perhaps  after  all  it  may  not  find  you 
and  you  may  be  in  England  again  by  that  time.  Few  of 
your  friends  will  be  gladder  to  see  you  than  its  author. 
Besides  visiting  the  North  last  summer,  I  walked  through 
some  part  of  Warwickshire  for  a  week  or  so,  seeing  Stratford 
on  Avon,  Coventry,  Kenilworth,  etc.,  etc.,  and  having  great 
glory.  Stratford,  and  still  more  perhaps  the  old  villages 
round  about,  are  perfectly  delicious.  I  shall  try  and  get 
that  way  again  for  further  researches  this  summer.  I  was 
there  when  the  heavy  floods  came  on,  which  we  have  had 
this  past  year ;  and  I  saw  some  wonderful  things,  sad  as  the 
prospect  was  to  think  of.  One  thing  I  remember  was  an 
extremely  ancient  disused  chapel  and  churchyard  at 
Alveston  near  Charlcote,  which  standing  rather  high  had 
become  islanded  by  the  floods,  so  that  going  to  pay  them  a 
second  visit  I  could  not  get  to  them.  All  round  the  fields 
were  full  of  water  in  which  the  trees  and  hurdles  and  hedges 
stood  reflected.  The  chapel  and  ancient  graves  standing 
alone  in  the  midst  under  the  sky,  whose  heavy  clouds  even 
offered  more  variety  than  the  features  of  the  desolate 
landscape,  would  have  made  a  most  solemn  picture.  I  will 
append  ^  a  sonnet  which  I  wrote  at  Stratford  (almost  the 
only  "  poetry  "  I  have  done  for  a  year  or  more)  on  the  site 
of  Shakespeare's  mulberry  tree,  which  was  cut  down  many 
years  back.  .  .  . 

Your  father  and  eldest  sister  were  here  the  other  day. 
The  latter,  who  had  not  been  before,  was  much  struck 
by  your  daguerreotype.  Your  brother  Henry  spent  one 
evening  with  William  and  me  some  time  back.  .  .  .  Letters 
from  all  of  your  family  will  I  believe  reach  you  with  this, 
as  they  are  all  to  go  by  the  friend  of  Stephens,  who  is  about 
to  leave  for  Melbourne. 

William's  letter,  accompanying  this,  is  to  contain  news 
of  all  friends  whom  I  have  on  that  account  not  mentioned  : 
it  will  tell  you  how  Hunt — the  Avorld's  great  man  at  last 
— is  off  "  for  the  East  indeed," — and  of  what  pictures  he 
has  painted,  celebrated  already  before  the  town  has  even 
seen  them, — and  how  during  his  last  months  here  he  had 

^  This  sonnet  has  been  omitted  owing  to  its  rather  pungent  quality. 


^0  V- 


I 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  71 

become  such  a  swell  that  he  regarded  the  great  Millais  as 
a  mere  tyro  in  that  particular,  and  used  to  be  severe  on 
his  imperfections.  I  had  a  long  letter  j^esterday  dated 
Malta,  from  the  glorious  old  boy;  it  is  full  of  travelling 
matters,  but  nothing  transcribable.  You  will  hear  how 
the  pinions  of  the  great  Millais  have  grown,  till  now  he  takes 
even  the  great  Ruskin  under  them,  as  a  poor  well-meaning 
fellow,  who  must  not  quite  be  bullied  down  : — and  of  all 
our  friends,  less  friends  with  Fame  than  these  : — how 
Allingham  has  brought  out  Day  and  Night  Songs  in  a 
sixpenny  pamphlet  :  how  Brown  is  married — you  guess  to 
whom  .  .  .  how  Hannay  has  a  babe  to  perpetuate  the 
family  shield  and  let  us  hope  to  care  less  about  it ;  how 
Stephens  is  Stephens  still ;  how  North  writes  now  and 
then,  with  details  of  a  life  precious  now  to  science  and 
literature,  but  which  each  letter  announces  to  be  within 
3  or  4  days  of  dissolution,  in  the  event  of  the  non-arrival 
on  these  shores  of  a  certain  amiable  being;  and  how  he 
sends  poems  "  to  be  taken  to  Moxon,"  which  it  is  thought, 
as  that  publisher  is  not  resident  in  Holywell  Street,  might 
be  reserved  against  his  removal  thither  : — etc.  etc.  etc. 
Of  the  Ormes,  no  doubt,  you  hear  from  themselves.  I 
spent  an  evening  some  time  back  with  our  fine  old  Bern- 
hard's  family  at  Brixton,  and  heard  his  letters  read  there, 
giving  capitally  complete  notions  of  everything  Australian. 
I  shall  write  to  that  first-rate  old  stunner  very  soon,  as  I 
ought  to  have  done  long  ago  but  have  always  somehow  man- 
aged to  exhaust  all  news  in  writing  to  you.  I  shall  send 
you  my  letter  for  him,  as  I  do  not  know  his  address.  I 
suppose  you  do  not  see  him  ever,  but  if  you  do,  give  him 
my  best  affection,  as  also  to  the  best  of  Batemans. 

And  now  I  have  really  said  hardly  anything  of  myself — ■ 
at  least  of  that  sort  of  news  which  my  true  friend  Woolner 
wishes,  and  ought,  to  hear  of  me.  Really  there  is  little  to 
tell  him.  I  have  begun  a  picture  of  which  I  shall  speak  in 
my  next,  as  I  am  tired  of  speaking  about  things  begun. 
And  I  fear  positively  that  the  only  thing  I  have  finished 
since  writing  to  you,  is  a  water-colour  from  the  Vita  Nuova 
(as  usual  you  will  say  !)  where  Dante  is  interrupted  while 
drawing  an  angel  on  the  anniversary  of  the  death  of  Beatrice. 
It  is  quite  a  different  design  from  one  of  the  same  subject  in 
pen  and  ink  which  I  gave  to  Millais  some  years  ago ;  and  is 
far  more  complete  than  any  water  colour  I  have  yet  done. 
It  is  sold  to  MacCracken  of  Belfast,  but   I  overreached 


72  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

myself,  after  my  fashion,  by  fixing  a  price  on  it  before 
I  knew  how  long  it  would  take  me.  I  fancy  however  he 
will  have  the  decency  eventually  to  stump  up  something 
additional.  In  poetry,  I  have  done  absolutely  nothing 
worthy  of  mention. 

I  need  not  say  how  happy  it  made  me  to  hear  that  there 
was  a  chance  after  all  for  you  at  Melbourne,  in  spite  of  the 
failure  of  gold  digging.  May  the  increase  and  not  any 
decline  of  success,  be  eventually  the  cause  of  your  return 
to  England,  though  indeed  I  could  almost  be  selfish  enough 
to  wish  the  latter  rather  than  that  you  should  not  return 
at  all.  God  speed  you,  dear  Woolner.  This  has  been 
indeed  a  strange  experience  for  you ;  and  I  have  full  trust 
that  your  genius  will  profit  by  it  in  the  end,  as  your  health 
and  peace  of  mind  have  already.  It  is  a  great  thing  too 
that  you  have  fallen,  in  your  new  country,  among  such  sure 
and  excellent  friends.  You  are  one  on  whose  account,  even 
in  the  roughest  path  of  life,  those  who  love  you  ought  to 
feel  no  dejection;  nevertheless  it  is  always  a  pleasure  to 
think  that  your  journey  should  have  brought  you,  as  well 
as  much  moral  gain,  those  kind  of  enjoyments  in  life  which 
you  could  least  have  looked  for  from  it. 

Your  affectionate  friend, 

D.     G.    ROSSETTI. 

By  the  bye,  I  forgot  to  say  that,  at  the  time  you  wrote  up 
for  coloured  chalks,  etc.,  Hunt  got  them  immediately  and 
they  were  forwarded  to  Dr.  Sibson  at  the  address  you  gave 
me.  He  answered  "  he  should  be  happy  to  keep  the  parcel 
till  Mr.  Woolner  sent  for  it."  This  seemed  to  me  a  mistake 
of  some  kind,  and  I  am  now  sending  again  for  it,  that  in 
case  it  has  not  reached  you  yet,  it  may  go  with  this  letter. 

T.  Woolner  to  his  Father,  Thomas  Woolner 

Address : 

Dr.  Howitfs, 

Collins  Street, 

Melbourne,  Victoria. 
March  19,  1854. 

My  dear  Father, 

I  promised  to  send  you  word  how  I  proceeded  with 
regard  to  Went  worth's  statue,  and  now  I  do  so  the  news  is 
not  so  satisfactory  as  I  could  wish.  A  few  days  ago  I  felt 
certain  of  it,  as  much  so  as  possible  without  having  received 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  73 

the  commission,  for  many  of  the  committee  have  the  strong- 
est wish  I  should  be  the  sculptor  and  I  was  spoken  of  as 
such  as  if  it  were  a  thing  settled.  You  will  have  seen  by 
the  newspapers  I  sent  how  highly  a  medallion  of  Wentworth 
I  did  is  spoken  of.  There  has  been  the  greatest  praise 
bestowed  upon  it  but  as  was  the  case  in  England  with  me 
the  matter  seems  to  end  there.  I  should  have  been  quite 
sure  of  the  statue  but  one  sharp  and  wise  gentleman  sug- 
gested that  it  was  no  reason  I  could  do  a  statue  because  I 
had  done  a  medallion  no  matter  how  admirable;  this 
notion  frightened  most  of  them  and  the  few  who  fought  for 
me  were  beaten  :  the  consequence  is  they  are  going  to 
appoint  judges  in  London  to  decide  upon  the  sculptor ;  and 
Wentworth  told  me  last  night  that  if  I  could  show  them  any 
works  which  proved  my  capability  of  executing  a  statue 
the  committee  would  rather  give  it  to  me  than  to  any  other. 
The  consequence  of  this  decision  is  I  must  return  to  England 
quickly  as  possible,  this  course  being  my  only  chance. 

I  make  a  great  sacrifice  in  doing  this  as  I  have  just 
become  known  in  Sydney  and  can  obtain  as  much  work  as 
I  can  do  modelling  people's  heads,  but  the  statue  is 
£2000  commission  and  too  good  an  opportunity  to  allow 
any  chance  to  escape. 

•  ••••• 

I  expect  in  about  3  months  to  leave  Australia  so  that 
I  think  within  6  or  7  months  to  be  in  England.  It  is  an 
immensely  long  time  since  I  heard  anything  of  you,  quite 
9  months,  if  not  more. 

I  hear  the  sculptors  in  London  are  very  busy;  this 
Wellington  death  seems  to  have  made  them  plenty  to  do. 
I  long  to  get  among  artistic  affairs  again. 

•  ••••• 

I  have  had  to  write  a  long  letter  to  W.  Rossetti  con- 
cerning this  statue  business.     I  am  my  dear  Father, 

Your  affectionate  son, 
Thomas  Woolner. 


CHAPTER   III 

Before  Woolner  left  Australia  by  the  steamer  Queen  of 
the  South,  he  went  on  board  the  sailing  vessel  the  Windsor, 
which  had  brought  him  to  Port  Phillip  nearly  two  years 
ago,  and  renewed  acquaintance  with  his  shipmates  while 
the  ship  was  in  harbor.  The  following  story  (reprinted 
by  kind  permission  of  Messrs.  Macmillan  &  Co.)  will  take 
the  reader  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  voyage  out  to 
Australia. 

A  Sea  Story 

I  know  of  no  greater  pleasure  than  to  chat  with  good- 
tempered,  intelligent  sailors  who,  enriched  by  experience 
in  their  perilous  duties,  show  in  their  observations  the 
fresh  stamp  of  individuality.  To  enjoy  this  was  my  good 
fortune  from  July  24  to  October  27  in  the  year  1852. 

Tired  of  what  then  seemed  to  me  the  monotony  of 
civilization,  and  pricked  by  a  spirit  of  adventure,  I  joined 
two  artist  friends  and  took  passage  in  the  good 
ship  Windsor,  bound  for  Port  Phillip,  in  Victoria,  our 
intention  being  to  try  our  fortune  in  the  gold-fields  there. 
Soon  after  leaving  Plymouth  we  ran  into  what  the  sailors 
called  "  a  nasty  cross  swell,"  in  which  the  vessel  pitched 
and  shook  so  violently,  that  nearly  all  the  passengers  on 
board,  for  imperative  reasons,  sought  their  cabins,  where, 
the  scuttles  being  fastened  close,  the  confined  atmosphere 
made  them  worse  than  they  were  in  the  open  air.  We  who 
remained  on  deck  were  continually  w^ashed  with  heavy 
spray  that  dashed  over  the  bulwarks ;  but  the  appearance 
of  the  sea  being  wild  and  exhilarating  we  only  took  heed 
of  our  wetting  as  a  necessary  part  of  the  entertainment. 

In  a  few  days,  having  arranged  our  cabin  comfortably, 
we  had  plenty  of  leisure  to  read,  watch  the  waves  and  the 

74 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  75 

clouds,  discuss  our  prospects  with  other  passengers,  and, 
as  occasion  offered,  chat  with  the  sailors,  with  whom  I  soon 
became  on  very  friendly  terms.  On  days  when  the  vessel 
was  moderately  steady,  I  used  often  to  sketch  likenesses 
of  the  officers  and  others,  and  these  sketches  gave  con- 
siderable amusement  on  board. 

Charley  Webb,  who  had  by  irregularities  been  reduced 
from  the  dignity  of  skipper  to  an  able-bodied  seaman,  came 
to  me  one  day  with  a  mysterious  air  and  mumbled  out  that 
he  had  a  great  favour  to  ask,  and  if  I  would  be  so  good  he 
should  be  very  much  obliged.  The  truth  was,  at  Demerara 
was  an  old  black  gal  who  was  very  partial  to  him ;  and  he 
knew  nothing  in  the  world  would  please  her  so  much  as  a 
bit  of  a  likeness  of  her  Charley.  Would  I  just  take  his 
figurehead  off  a  bit  for  her?  When  he  got  to  Sydney  he 
should  be  sure  to  find  some  old  shipmate  who  would  be 
going  to  Demerara,  and  he  could  get  him  to  take  his  likeness 
to  the  old  gal. 

Charley  was  a  favourite  of  mine  and  I  took  unusual 
pains  with  his  portrait,  finishing  it  more  carefully  than  I 
had  done  any  of  the  others.  The  result  was  a  likeness  as 
exact  as  I  was  able  to  make  it.  One  of  my  friends  mounted 
it  on  tinted  paper  with  gilded  lines  and  secured  it  under 
glass  so  that  it  looked  presentable  and  compact.  Old 
Charley  was  the  idol  of  all  the  other  sailors,  and  their  verdict 
was  unanimous  in  praise  of  his  likeness,  and  by  this  I 
became  so  especially  popular  with  them  that  everything 
I  said  or  did  was  sure  to  be  right.  Indeed,  they  carried 
their  admiration  so  far  that  on  rainy  nights  when  I  joined 
them  in  the  forecastle  to  smoke  and  yarn,  they  told  me  I 
ought  to  have  been  a  sailor.  It  was  a  pity  I  wasn't.  I 
was  in  fact  a  good  sailor  spoiled. 

Among  my  sailor  friends  was  one  I  name  Lee.  He 
had  singularly  small,  white  hands,  and  though  doing  his 
work  as  well  as  the  rest,  I  rather  wondered  at  there  being  so 
much  power  in  those  delicate  proportions. 

One  Sunday  Lee  appeared  at  the  capstan  in  his  daily 
costume  to  attend  morning  service,  and  was  reprimanded 
by  the  Captain  for  "  coming  dirtily  dressed  to  prayers." 


76  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

In  this  the  Captain  was  mistaken,  for  although  Lee  was 
in  an  ordinary  working  blouse,  it  was  as  clean  as  it  could 
be;  and  to  my  picture-loving  eyes  he  looked  as  natural 
and  as  proper  as  a  man  could  look. 

On  the  Sunday  following  my  friend  appeared  in  magni- 
ficent attire.  White  duck  trousers,  a  handsome  blue  frock 
coat,  black  waistcoat,  silk  necktie,  black  kid  gloves,  black 
beaver  hat,  fine  boots,  and  a  handsome  cane.  After  ser- 
vice Lee  received  a  lecture  from  the  Captain  "  for  making 
a  buffoon  of  himself  " ;  whereat  he  was,  or  affected  to  be, 
indignant,  having  taken  so  much  trouble  to  appear  smart. 

One  day,  having  Lee  to  myself,  and  wanting  to  under- 
stand the  secret  of  those  neatly  made  hands  and  superior 
manners,  I  asked  for  an  account  of  his  life.  He  told  me 
that  he  was  the  son  of  a  clergyman  in  Devonshire ;  and 
being  of  an  unruly  disposition,  when  a  boy  he  ran  away  to 
sea,  where  he  had  remained  ever  since ;  for,  being  ashamed 
of  what  he  had  done,  he  had  never  returned  home. 

At  that  time  I  was  given  to  phrenology  and  studying 
the  formation  of  heads  with  reference  to  character;  and 
often  during  fine  evenings  upon  deck  I  would  examine 
the  heads  of  sailors  and  of  passengers  to  tell  them  their 
ruling  tendencies  and  dispositions. 

Once  when  it  was  Lee's  turn  to  have  his  nature  unfolded, 
I  told  him  that  he  had  ideality  in  larger  proportion  than 
any  other  faculty,  and  that,  above  all  things,  he  was  fond 
of  anything  charming  and  beautiful.  He  owned,  in  an 
awkward  kind  of  way,  that  he  was  rather  fond  of  pretty 
things. 

"  '  Rather,'  "  said  I ;  "  your  love  of  beauty  has  nothing 
to  do  with  rather.  You  love  pretty  things  so  well  you 
would  sooner  lose  your  dinner  than  miss  seeing  any  beautiful 
sight." 

"  No,  no,"  he  retorted;  "  I  am  not  so  bad  as  that.  I 
am  fond  of  such  things,  but  I  would  not  lose  my  dinner  for 
them.     No,  no." 

He,  of  course,  imagined  this  disclaimer  supported  his 
dignity  for  rough  manliness,  and  that  I  should  be  satisfied 
with  his  faint  admission.     But  he  had,  in  this  instance, 


[Photograph  by  W.  Jeffrey. 
PROFESSOR    ADAM    SEDGWICK,    1860 


[To  face  page  77. 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS  77 

reckoned  without  his  host ;  for  I  began  to  talk  of  general 
subjects,  and,  after  a  while,  gradually  veered  towards 
the  beauties  of  Devonshire  scenery;  describing  the  huge 
forest  trees  I  had  seen  there ;  their  broad  shadows  on  the 
grass;  undulating  glades,  barred  and  mottled  with  sun- 
shine, tempting  onwards  to  the  blue  ethereal  distance,  unless 
some  bright  pool,  half  smothered  in  flowers,  and  haunted 
by  innumerable  wings,  carried  attention  some  other  beauty- 
bewildered  way. 

"  And  think  of  all  this  scenery,"  said  I,  "  after  a  summer 
shower,  when  every  petal,  grass-blade  and  twig  is  hung 
with  waterdrops ;  and,  as  the  sun  breaks  forth  again, 
every  drop,  smitten  to  a  little  sun,  twinkles  and  burns, 
and  glistens  like  the  great  original.  Think  of  all  these, 
and  a  thousand  other  delightful  things,  and  then  tell  me  if 
there  is  anything  else  in  life  to  rival  them,  unless  it  be  a 
taut  ship  going,  with  a  spanking  breeze,  fourteen  or  sixteen 
knots  an  hour." 

"  You  are  right,"  cried  Lee.  "  Many  and  many  a  time 
have  I  wandered  in  just  such  a  place  when  a  boy;  and 
many  a  time  have  I  been  wetted  through,  and  walked  on 
till  I  was  dry  again;  and  often  have  I  been  scolded  for 
coming  in  long  after  dinner-time  by  my  mother,  who  used 
to  threaten  that  the  next  time  I  was  late  I  should  go  with- 
out any.  One  day — how  well  I  remember  it  ! — it  was  so 
bright  and  beautiful,  I  went  on  from  one  place  to  another, 
farther  and  farther,  till  at  last  it  began  to  be  dusk  before 
I  thought  of  turning  to  go  home.  And  when  I  did  reach 
home  it  was  so  late  all  there  had  begun  to  be  alarmed,  and 
were  wondering  if  anything  had  happened  to  me.  My 
mother  was  very  angry,  and  said  my  conduct  was  beyond 
endurance ;  and,  as  she  had  often  threatened,  now  I  really 
should  suffer  punishment,  and  have  no  dinner  for  my 
disobedience;   and  I  was  actually  sent  dinnerless  to  bed." 

"  So  that  you  really  did  prefer  to  lose  your  dinner  than  to 
miss  seeing  the  beautiful  sights.  That  is  just  what  I  told 
you  that  you  would  do." 

The  roars  of  laughter  and  merry  banter  that  followed 
threw  poor  Lee  into  sad  confusion.     His  face  became  red 


78  THOMAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 

as  the  wattles  of  a  turkey  cock,  and  he  walked  away, 
shaking  his  head,  but  saying  nothing. 

About  the  middle  of  October  we  reached  Port  Phillip, 
where  the  multitude  of  masts  appeared  to  stretch  to  an 
infinite  distance.  All  the  vessels  of  the  world  seemed  there 
lying  peacefully  at  anchor. 

On  board  our  ship  nothing  could  exceed  the  confusion; 
packing  and  unpacking,  boxes  passing  to  and  fro  from  the 
hold,  and  the  universal  restlessness  of  passengers  and  crew. 
We  had  to  wait  many  weary  days  before  we  could  get  a 
steamer  to  carry  us  ashore,  so  busy  were  they  all  in  those 
days  of  the  golden  age. 

One  evening  the  Captain  had  all  the  sailors  upon  the 
quarter-deck,  and  made  them  a  speech  promising  good 
wages  and  a  bonus  if  they  would  remain  with  the  ship, 
and  that  everything  should  be  done  to  make  them  comfort- 
able. There  was  not  much  response  to  these  good  offers, 
the  men  being  most  of  them  bitten  with  the  gold  fever. 

Some  time  after  the  Captain  had  finished  his  harangue, 
as  the  sun  was  setting,  Lee  came  and  said  that  he  wanted 
to  have  a  talk  with  me,  and  I  went  with  him  on  to  the 
forecastle. 

He  then  in  a  low  voice,  not  much  above  a  whisper,  told 
me  he  meant  to  leave  the  ship,  get  a  berth  in  Melbourne 
for  a  time,  save  money,  go  to  the  diggings,  and  get  a  lot  of 
gold.  He  should  then  send  for  his  wife  and  daughter  and 
regularly  settle  in  the  country,  and  he  asked  me  what  I 
thought  of  his  plan  ?  I  demanded  what  possible  good  could 
come  of  my  giving  him  an  opinion  if  he  had  already  made 
up  his  mind  what  he  was  going  to  do  ? 

"  But  I  want  to  hear  what  you  think,"  he  said. 

"  Oh,  very  well.  Then  if  you  must  know  what  I  think, 
I  consider  yours  a  very  bad  plan.  You  engaged  to  sail 
to  Australia,  India  and  China,  and  to  return  to  the  Thames 
in  the  same  ship,  and  in  common  honesty  you  are  bound 
to  perform  your  contract.  If  every  man  broke  his  engage- 
ment whenever  it  suited  him  to  do  so  there  would  be  an 
end  to  every  enterprise  in  the  world,  and  we  should  none 
of  us  be  able  to  exist  as  civilized  beings." 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  79 

He  moodily  replied  that  a  man  was  bound  to  do  the  best 
for  himself  and  his  family. 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "that  is  perfectly  true;  a  man  should 
always  do  the  best  for  himself  and  his  family;  but  the 
question  is  whether  behaving  dishonestly  is  ever  doing 
the  best.     I  think  not." 

He  urged  that  a  man  did  not  often  find  a  chance  of 
making  his  fortune,  and  must  be  a  fool  to  miss  one  when 
within  his  reach.  Did  I  not  think  so?  I  told  him  that 
I  would  describe  two  pictures,  and  he  might  select  which 
of  them  he  liked  best  as  an  example. 

"  We  will  suppose  that  you  get  safely  away  from  the 
ship.  You  then  easily  obtain  a  berth  in  Melbourne,  and 
receive  high  wages.  After  awhile  you  have  saved  enough 
to  venture  an  expedition  to  the  gold-fields,  where  by  hard 
work,  aided  by  sailor  skill  and  dexterity,  you  succeed  in 
obtaining  a  handsome  amount  of  gold.  You  then  send 
to  England  for  your  wife  and  daughter,  enter  into  some 
business,  and  become  very  prosperous ;  buy  land  amidst 
beautiful  scenery,  build  your  house;  and,  as  this  is  a 
great  country  for  vines,  you  may  have  them  trailing  over 
your  own  doorway,  and  enjoy  the  rest  of  your  life  sur- 
rounded by  your  own  flocks  and  herds  in  old-fashioned 
patriarchal  grandeur." 

Lee  was  in  high  rapture,  and  said  that  I  had  hit  off  his 
own  thoughts  to  a  T,  and  that  it  was  exactly  what  he  had 
been  looking  forward  to.     Nothing  could  please  him  more. 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "the  picture  is  pleasant  enough  so  far; 
but  wait  until  I  have  finished  before  taking  it  entirely  to 
heart.  In  the  evening  of  life,  resting  in  the  shadow  of 
your  patriarchal  vine,  you  may  be  gladdened  with  many 
stalwart  sons  and  graceful  daughters;  and  do  you  think 
that,  considering  the  circumstances  you  can  never  fail  to 
remember,  you  will  be  able  to  look  them  in  the  face  and 
discourse  upon  the  dignity  of  truth  and  virtue  and  the 
evil  consequences  of  any  deviation  from  either  in  the  way 
a  father  ought  to  talk  to  his  children  ?  Will  not  the 
thought  that  all  your  prosperity  was  based  upon  a  great 
wrong  to  your  employer  check  and  paralyse  all  you  would 


80  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

say  to  them  ?  And  could  a  man  feel  a  deeper  degradation 
than  in  knowing  that  he  dares  not  speak  worthily  to  his 
own  children  ? 

"  This  is  one  picture.     I  will  now  give  you  the  other. 

"  You  keep  to  your  engagement  and  stand  by  the  ship ; 
you  go  to  India  and  China;  you  return  to  England  and 
receive  your  high  wages  with  likewise  the  promised  bonus. 
Your  diligence  has  recommended  you  to  the  favour  of  the 
Captain  and  officers,  who  allow  you  on  their  next  voyage 
to  work  your  passage  out  as  passenger  seaman.  You 
bring  with  you  your  wife  and  child  as  passengers,  and 
you  all  arrive  safely  at  Melbourne,  where  you  are  soon 
employed  at  a  salary  better  than  you  could  ever  have 
reasonably  expected.  Whether  you  go  to  the  gold-fields 
or  stay  in  the  town  you  are  sure  to  be  prosperous;  and 
whatever  wealth  you  may  then  make  you  can  always  feel 
that  it  is  really  and  truly  your  own;  and  at  the  close  of 
your  days  you  will  feel  that  throughout  life  you  had  always 
done  your  duty  as  an  honest  man." 

My  friend  Lee  seemed  nervous  and  jerky,  and  did  not 
regard  the  last  picture  with  much  complacency;  for  I 
suppose  it  seemed  somewhat  dull  and  jog-trot,  wholly 
unlike  the  visions  that  had  crowded  his  mind  for  some 
time  past ;  and  he  again  asserted  that  a  man  should  do  the 
best  for  himself  when  the  chance  offered. 

I  told  him  that  he  must  please  himself;  I  had  put  the  two 
ways  before  him  :  the  wrong  way,  and  the  right  way. 
The  first  seemed  pleasant  enough,  but  unfortunately  it 
led  to  evil ;  whereas  the  other  was  the  path  of  virtue  and 
led  to  peace  and  happiness.  If  he  preferred  the  evil,  he 
knew  the  way  to  it.  It  was  no  concern  of  mine  which 
way  he  went ;  he  had  asked  for  my  views,  and  I  had  given 
them ;  but  it  rested  with  himself  whether  he  would  take 
advantage  of  what  he  had  been  told. 

I  then  relit  my  pipe,  which  had  gone  out  during  our 
conversation,  and  left  the  sailor  to  think  matters  over; 
and  should  probably,  but  for  the  following  incident,  never 
have  remembered  the  subject  again. 

Two  days  later,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS  81 

steamer  which  was  to  take  us  ashore  lay  alongside,  and  we 
were  all  crowding  at  the  gangway  to  get  on  board  as  soon 
as  we  could.  While  I  was  awaiting  my  turn,  I  felt  my 
coat  twitched  several  times,  and  on  looking  round  I  saw 
Lee  with  an  agitated  countenance,  who  said  he  wanted 
to  speak  to  me.  I  went  with  him  to  the  port  side  of  the 
ship,  behind  a  huge  pile  of  packages,  boxes  and  trunks, 
where  he  gripped  my  hand  and  said  he  should  follow  my 
advice.  I  asked  him  what  advice  I  had  given.  He  told 
me  it  was  about  not  leaving  the  ship ;  he  meant  to  stick 
to  her;  and  he  should  never  forget  my  words.  Poor 
fellow  !  his  eyes  were  full  of  tears.  He  hung  down  his 
head,  and  giving  my  hand  another  hard  grip,  said  :  "  God 
bless  you;  I  shall  never  forget  you,"  and  went  hurriedly 
away.     I  never  saw^  him  after. 

This  occurred  in  October,  1852. 

In  January,  1854,  I  went  to  New  South  Wales,  having 
spent  the  interval  mining  in  the  various  fields  of  Victoria, 
travelling  about  the  wild,  strange  country  there,  and 
modelling  small  medallion  likenesses  in  Melbourne. 

After  I  had  been  some  weeks  in  Sydney,  modelling  like- 
nesses by  day,  and  in  the  evenings  enjoying  the  beauties 
of  its  matchless  harbour,  within  whose  waters  the  blues 
of  the  forget-me-not  and  the  sapphire  hold  the  field  in 
ever-interchanging  rivalry,  I  heard  that  the  Windsor  was 
lying  in  harbour. 

I  was  not  long  in  discovering  where  she  lay,  when  I  took 
a  boat,  went  on  board,  and  had  the  gratification  of  again 
seeing  my  friends  :  the  officers  and  some  of  the  sailors 
with  whom  I  had  spent  so  much  pleasant  time.  They 
made  numerous  inquiries  of  our  shipmates,  who  were  also 
gold-digging  companions,  and  of  our  expeditions,  our 
success  and  prospects,  and  of  all  that  friends  would  know 
who,  endeared  by  close  association,  meet  after  a  long 
absence.  I  made  abundant  inquiry  concerning  the  sailors 
and  officers  who  were  not  then  with  the  vessel.  At  length 
I  asked  one  of  the  mates  if  he  could  tell  me  what  had 
become  of  Lee,  as  I  knew  that  he  intended  to  continue  with 
them  during  the  whole  voyage. 


82  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

"  Oh,  yes ;  we  had  a  letter  from  him  about  a  week  ago. 
When  we  left  Port  Phillip,  in  1852,  he  sailed  with  us  to 
India,  and  then  went  on  to  China,  and  returned  with  us  to 
London.  He  behaved  so  well  during  the  whole  voyage 
that  the  Captain  and  officers  were  vastly  pleased  with 
him.  He  not  only  worked  well  himself  but  he  had  great 
influence  with  the  other  men,  and  helped  considerably 
to  keep  them  in  good  humour  and  at  their  duty.  At  the 
end  of  the  cruise  he  had  the  whole  of  his  wages  to  receive 
together  with  a  handsome  bonus;  and  when  we  sailed 
on  this  voyage  he  came  with  us  working  his  way  out  as  a 
sailor  passenger,  and  bringing  his  wife  and  little  daughter 
with  him.  We  left  him  at  Melbourne,  and  in  his  letter 
he  says  that  he  got  work  the  day  after  landing,  and  that 
his  wages  being  £5  a  week,  he  feels  very  comfortable  and 
happy." 

If  he  is  living  now  I  have  no  doubt  he  is  a  prosperous  and 
a  happy  man.  If  he  should  ever  read  these  words  he  will 
recognize  his  own  likeness,  and  I  daresay  will  still  hold  the 
advice  I  gave  him  in  honour.  But  with  whatever  feeling 
of  gratitude  he  may  think  of  me,  I  feel  sure  that  I  shall  ever 
regard  him  with  yet  higher  respect  :  for  my  experience  of 
life  has  taught  me  that  it  is  an  easier  thing  to  give,  than  to 
take  and  act  upon  even  the  wisest  advice. 

•  .  .  ... 

Woolner  kept  a  log  on  his  homeward  voyage  while 
on  the  Queen  of  the  South,  beginning  it  July  23. 

Sunday,  July  23. — We  are  in  Bass'  Straits;  yesterday 
weighed  anchor  about  3.0  m.  p.m.,  passed  the  Heads  at 
5.30  p.m.,  the  pilot  left  6.10  p.m.  A  large  party  accom- 
panied us  to  the  Heads  then  left  us  by  the  Lioness  steamer  : 
there  was  great  hurrahing  and  cheering  in  taking  leave, 
perhaps  the  last  for  some  of  us.  This  morning  is  delight- 
fully bright  and  we  are  favored  with  a  glorious  breeze 
sending  us  along  at  about  10  knots.  The  passengers  seem 
a  very  respectable  set  of  people  and  I  see  no  disagreeable 
ones  yet  and  hope  this  experience  may  hold  out.  I  hoped 
when  I  returned  to  England  to  have  had  the  friends  with 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  83 

me  I  came  out  with,  but  now  I  cannot  anticipate  seeing 
them  for  2  years  at  the  least.  I  most  sincerely  hope  neither 
will  regret  coming  here.  When  I  first  saw  Australia  its 
hills  were  soaked  in  romantic  richness  and  a  halo  of  promise 
crowned  it  with  glory;  I  thought  if  the  result  in  reality 
were  rich  as  the  seeming  to  me  I  should  find  all  the  vague 
hopes  of  youth  fulfilled.  I  have  found  them  infinitely 
surpassed  and  am  made  proud  and  happy. 

Evening. — Been  going  on  at  a  good  pace  all  day  with 
steam  and  canvas.  I  have  been  on  deck  most  of  the  time, 
either  looking  at  the  water  or  walking  with  Mrs.  Wilson. 
It  is  beginning  to  rain  now  but  the  wind  keeps  up. 

Tuesday,  July  25. — We  have  a  good  sea  and  wind  going 
at  a  satisfactory  pace.  Feathered  the  screw  at  7\  a.m. 
I  rose  at  8  and  had  a  pleasant  walk  on  deck  before  break- 
fast :  after,  I  blew  an  honorable  cloud  on  the  main  deck 
chatting  with  Mr.  Graham. 

•  ••••• 

Sea-birds  are  floating  easily  around  the  ship,  their  earnest 
heads  pointing  with  set  determination  towards  the  water; 
it  is  the  way  they  do  business,  these  beautiful  creatures, 
and  seek  the  essential  wherewithal. 

Night. — The  ocean  looks  most  dreary  and  desolate;  a 
thick  wet  mist  is  over  everything  and  the  air  soaks  chilly 
into  one. 

Thursday,  July  27. — After  dinner  I  went  into  the  second 
officer's  cabin  to  see  his  log  and  have  a  yarn  :  found  him 
a  very  intelligent  fellow  and  fond  of  poetry,  particularly 
Tennyson's,  he  has  his  poems  and  sets  great  store  by  them  : 
he  is  going  to  lend  me  his  log  to  copy,  so  I  shall  have  it 
correct. 

Friday,  July  28. — Last  night  the  weather  was  unusually 
rough  and  pitched  our  poor  ship  about  any  how  :  some- 
times it  felt  as  if  two  gigantic  hands  were  shaking  it  to 
pieces.  I  got  very  little  sleep  after  2  p.m.  and  was  not 
sorry  to  see  thro'  my  scuttle  a  roundish  blotch  of  light 


84  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

in  the  eastern  vapor  that  I  knew  to    be   the  sun.      Did 
not  rise  till  8.30  a.m. 

•  ••••» 

Saturday,  July  29. — We  have  had  two  smart  hail-storms, 
the  decks  were  covered  with  pretty  icebergs  in  a  few 
minutes  much  to  the  edification  of  the  passenger  boys, 
who  instantly  set  about  rolling  it  up  into  balls  and  pelting 
each  other.  We  have  now  and  then  a  short  gleam  of 
sunshine,  but  the  general  aspect  of  sea  and  sky  is  waste, 
hopeless  and  desolate  :  over  a  crumpled  horizon,  no  ease 
or  rest  :  big  waves  gather  to  ponderous  bumps  of  water 
and  flop  down  bursting  about  the  ship's  stern  or  tempo- 
rarily shoulder  her  out  of  course,  and  gather  up  to  moun- 
tainous bulks  and  follow  us  again,  as  if  determined  to  drive 
this  daring  invader  from  the  Southern  desolation  of  waters 
or  swallow  it  up  and  let  it  settle  to  the  bottom.  The  good 
ship  seems  to  notice  very  little  these  stern  waves,  but 
bounds  merrily  on,  jauntily  as  one  of  the  wild  seabirds 
that  wheel  about  and  flutter  on  her  emerald  wake  or  float 
away  beyond  the  reach  of  sight. 

Sunday,  July  30. — iVbout  10.30  a.m.  a  savage  squall 
came  on  from  the  South  East  quarter  :  it  roared  thro'  the 
rigging  like  the  thundering  rush  of  a  mighty  furnace  and 
tore  the  sea  up  in  tumultuous  splashy  masses,  obliterating 
all  around  with  vapors  lashed  from  the  commotion; 
broad,  sodden  snowflakes  filled  the  air,  falling  with  an 
infinite  complexity  of  lines,  and  the  chilly  air  keenly  bit 
thro'  clothing,  however  thickly  laid  on.  I  stood  it 
some  time  but  when  my  pipe  was  finished  I  turned  into 
the  saloon  where  the  temperature  is  pleasant  enough. 
Prayers  have  been  read  here  by  the  Doctor,  but  I  did  not 
attend  them,  being  engaged  another  way. 

•  ••••• 

Nothing  could  seem  more  cheerless  than  a  glance  on 
deck  :  everything  looks  stiff  with  wet,  the  ropes  look 
particularly  obstinate  and  decks  false  in  slipperiness  : 
sailors  and  officers  move  awkwardly  and  slowly,  knees  bent, 
elbows   sticking   outwards,  their    souwesters  and  oilskins 


I 


SKETCH    FOR    CAWNPORE    MEMORIAL,    1861 

(Never  executed.) 


[To  face  page  Sd. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  85 

shining  and  dripping,  boots  saturated  thro'  and  thro'. 
Passengers  are  not  troublesome  on  deck ;  I  saw  one  stand- 
ing under  the  poop  awning,  more  like  a  mere  bundle  of 
clothes  with  something  inside  to  keep  it  upright  than  an 
active  living  creature.  This  weather  makes  the  soul 
shrink  within  small  compass,  as  the  mercury  settles  in  the 
thermometer;  we  use  what  vitality  we  have  to  keep  our- 
selves warm  and  seem  to  spare  no  surplus  for  fun,  vague 
chatting  or  anything  not  strictly  essential;  therefore  we 
may  pick  out  some  one  and  walk  the  poop  side  by  side 
with  him  for  an  hour  at  a  time,  but  do  very  little  talking 
all  the  while;  that  is  reserved  till  we  come  below,  stand 
over  the  saloon  fire  and  get  thawed,  what  may  be  done  in 
that  way.     We  are  going  about  8  knots  now. 

One  thing,  a  person  is  forced  to  have  a  certain  amount  of 
exercise  whatever  his  inclination,  for  the  trouble  of  keeping 
balance  is  considerable  even  when  sitting,  and  standing  is 
a  tax  on  attentive  dexterity  that  if  carried  much  farther 
would  bid  fair  to  rival  the  efforts  of  a  tight  rope  dancer. 
I  saw  one  albatross  this  afternoon,  the  first  of  this  voyage  : 
numerous  of  those  innocent-looking  birds  called  Cape 
pigeons  have  been  with  us  since  we  entered  Bass's  Straits : 
the  ship  never  seems  so  solitary  with  them  circling  around. 

Monday,  July  31. — Another  night  of  tumbling  :  my 
berth  is  of  smallest  dimensions,  more  fit  for  a  coffin  as 
regards  size,  still  there  was  play  enough  to  give  my  un- 
fortunate ribs  a  considerable  bruising. 

•  ••••• 

I  find  it  next  to  impossible  to  read  this  weather,  being 
obliged  to  bestow  so  much  attention  on  keeping  warm.  I 
cannot  wonder  at  the  Laplanders  and  others  of  the  same 
kind  being  such  senseless  phlegmatic  beings,  for  they  must 
absorb  all  their  intellect  in  getting  food  and  keeping  warm, 
just  as  bears  do.  I  think  men  of  temperate  climates  are 
usually  more  vigorous  than  inhabitants  of  hot  countries, 
but  not  the  men  from  regions  of  almost  perpetual  frost, 
they  are  the  most  dwarfish  and  insignificant  on  the  earth. 


86  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

[Referring  to  the  want  of  fresh  vegetables  on  board — 
which  Woolner  thought  so  important.] 

Monday,  July  31. — If  I  were  an  influential  individual 
I  would  see  to  these  things ;  but  when  a  person  has  no 
hubbub  reputation,  no  matter  if  he  talk  the  wisdom  of  a 
cherub  no  one  will  hear  him.  4 

Night — The  day  has  been  lovely  in  contrast  with  the 
preceding  ones ;  one  short  squall  came  from  the  west  about 
3  p.m.  which  sent  the  ladies  off  the  poop  in  a  hurry,  but  we 
only  enjoyed  the  outskirts  as  it  veered  off  the  southard : 
it  was  a  glorious  sight  to  watch  the  difference  of  where  it 
had  been  to  where  it  was  beating  ocean  with  a  mist ;  there, 
dazzling  waves  of  light  dashed  forward  in  triumphant 
splendor  and  made  a  dim  horizon  wane  dimmer ;  opposite, 
was  no  horizon  at  all,  the  squall-cloud  plucked  the  billows 
up  into  itself  and  wrangled  and  ground  them  to  spray 
and  mist :  thro'  all  this  commotion,  high  above  it  nearly 
to  the  zenith  rose  the  magnificent  grace  of  a  rainbow, 
under  which  the  noble  ship  seemed  entering  to  a  stranger 
world. 

•  ••••• 

Tuesday,  August  1. 

Last  evening  I  had  a  read  at  Ruskin's  first  vol.  of 
Modern  Painters  and  derived  much  pleasure  from  the 
wisdom  of  the  principles  enunciated  and  the  forcible  grace 
of  the  language  they  are  expressed  in.  I  am  convinced 
the  work  must  do  an  incalculable  amount  of  good,  for  it 
states  truths  hitherto  but  dimly  understood  by  many  fine 
artists  and  totally  disregarded  by  the  bulk — I  see  no 
evidence  of  unjust  bias  in  the  author,  not  more  than  his 
propositions  justify,  and  I  apprehend  no  man  can  be  too 
fond  of  nature  and  truth.  Artists  and  critics  object  to 
this  book  the  same  way  that  unhealthy  people  object  to 
the  physician's  injunctions  to  take  exercise  and  face  the 
pure  air  of  heaven,  but  if  they  wish  to  enjoy  long  life  they 
must  do  as  they  are  recommended. 

.         •  •  •  •  • 

The  sweet  birds  keep  with  us  still,  tho'  not  in  great 
number  :    lovely  companions   in  the  southern  waste.     I 


4 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  87 

have  no  beautiful  sunrises  or  sunsets  to  note  down  here; 
we  rarely  see  aught  but  the  dull  grey  uniformity,  sometimes 
lit  with  misty  sunshine  :  this  afternoon  the  sun  fought 
behind  a  great  accumulation  of  dull  grey  vapor  scudded 
with  paler  mist,  and  sent  down  a  fan  of  light  broken  to 
lashes,  against  which  rolled  a  heavy  weight  of  billows. 

Wednesday,  August  2. 

The  sun  was  victorious  this  afternoon  before  sinking, 
and  bursting  thro'  a  mountain  of  cloud  hurled  down  a 
pyramid  of  glory  to  the  sea,  which  heaved  a  black  sullen 
mass  ponderous  as  lead.  From  the  great  vapor-bulk  a 
few  grc}^  showers  were  glancing  downwards  and  opposite, 
in  the  south-eastern  sky,  dimly  seen  was  the  opalescent 
ghost  of  a  mighty  rainbow.  I  was  looking  on  with  a  very 
orthodox  poetic  spirit  when  the  abrupt  ringing  of  the  bell 
announced  dinner,  of  course  poetics  vanished  as  beautiful 
clouds  before  a  strong  wind,  for  in  this  bracing  southern 
cold  it  is  astonishing  how  the  appetite  of  man  develops 
and  how  everything  celestial  takes  fright  at  this  ravenous 
wolf ! 

Saturday,  August  5. — Last  night  I  had  a  good  long  read 
at  Ruskin,  and  enjoyed  it  as  much  as  was  possible  in  such 
a  confusion  of  voices ;  it  delights  me  the  downright  hearty 
way  he  cuts  up  and  exposes  the  ignorant  conceits  and  tame- 
ness  of  the  over-lauded  old  masters  as  much  as  it  pleases 
me  the  keen,  magnificent  exposition  of  Turner's  greatness 
and  the  delicate  beauties  of  minor  landscape  artists.  I 
should  like  to  hear  some  of  his  criticism  on  the  works  of 
Anthony,  who  is  now  a  man  of  note  in  the  world.  I  sup- 
pose taking  into  account  every  kind  of  scenery  and  style 
of  treating  them,  Ruskin  understands  landscape  better 
than  any  other  man. 

•  ••••• 

Sunday,  August  6. 

Night. — The  day  has  been  bright  throughout,  not  one 


88  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

squall  or  hail  drift  :  the  poop  and  main  deck  were  covered 
with  people ;  many  that  had  never  appeared  before,  brought 
out  from  their  cabins  by  the  warm  sunshine  as  moths  are 
from  cocoons,  and  some  disported  in  gay  garments,  and 
men  manufactured  smoke  from  dried  tobacco  leaf,  leisurely 
walking  ;  children  ran  wildly  about  trying  to  catch  one 
another. 

•  ••«•• 

Tuesday,  August  8. 

•  ••••■ 

At  2  p.m.  we  had  to  go  off  our  course  on  another  tack. 
I  read  a  little  of  Ruskin  and  finished  the  first  vol.  of 
Modern  Painters.  He  must  have  worked  hard  during  his 
life  to  accumulate  such  an  extraordinary  amount  of  truth 
as  is  shown  in  this  vol.  alone  :  the  character  of  water  is 
wonderfully  rendered,  he  seems  while  writing  to  be  a  sea- 
god  he  understands  its  nature  so  perfectly;  I  have  no 
doubt  the  rocks  and  mountains  are  equally  faithful,  but 
I  do  not  know  this  so  well.     The  trees  are  truth  itself. 

Thursday,  August  10. 

The  sea  is  a  great  commotion,  a  pale  grey  broken  with 
glaring  light  and  transparent  shadows  and  big  rolls  of 
foam  that  burst  and  over-run  the  surface  of  their  parent 
waves.  Plenty  of  the  Cape  birds  accompany  us,  but  I 
have  not  seen  any  they  call  whale-birds,  tho'  one  would 
expect  to  find  them  here.  The  Cape  birds  fly  round  our 
ship  at  night,  several  people  told  me  they  saw  them  wheel- 
ing about  in  the  moonlight.  .  .  .  This  journal-keeping 
makes  me  at  times  feel  fearfully  literary  !  I  do  so  be- 
cause I  resolved  to  write  something  every  day  and  am 
glad  of  what  may  help  to  feed  my  resolution. 

Unhappy  literary  men  !  poor  squirrels  in  the  wheel ; 
doomed  to  perpetual  pawing  in  your  mills  to  please  your 
many-headed  master  the  public  :  your  kind  master  who 
throws  a  nut  or  two  for  giving  him  a  ticklish  eye-pleasure 
in  his  listless  hour,  at  the  cost  of  your  own  health,  liberty 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  89 

and  life  itself.  Well  my  good  literaries,  if  you  will  make 
squirrels  of  yourselves  you  must  not  wonder  the  public 
catch  and  put  you  in  a  cage. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

Wednesday,  August  16. — The  breeze  continues,  we  are 
going  nearly  8  knots.  Just  as  breakfast  was  over  a  real 
genuine  iceberg  made  its  appearance  off  the  w^indward 
quarter  (north)  for  our  edification ;  there  was  no  mistaking 
the  solidity  of  this  monster  of  the  deep  :  it  rose  sheer  from 
the  w^ater  in  a  perpendicular  line  on  one  side  to  about 
100  ft.,  then  ran  along  in  abrupt  craggy  points  to  half  its 
length  and  gradually  sloped  till  it  fell  again  sheer  into  the 
sea ;  it  was  pale  cold  grey  with  a  faint  belief  of  greenness 
pervading  the  hollows,  but  no  colour  was  decidedly  distin- 
guishable for  a  mist  that  hung  in  that  direction.  It  seemed 
to  me  8  miles  distant,  some  said  only  5,  others  12  :  the 
truth  of  which  never  will  be  known.  We  are  in  the  region 
of  danger  at  last  and  the  need  of  keeping  a  sharp  look  out 
is  evident  :  at  night  it  is  a  matter  not  to  be  treated  as  a 
joke  by  any  means,  for  objects  cannot  be  seen  any  great 
distance  then,  particularly  ice,  which  in  colour  is  so  similar 
to  the  ocean. 

•  ••••• 

Thursday,  August  17. 

I  find  it  pleasant  to  meet  anyone  here  who  has  an  idea 
superior  to  the  rooting  for  riches,  for  there  is  a  doleful  lack 
of  such  spirits.  A  sea  voyage  w^ould  not  be  so  dull  an 
experience  if  there  were  minds  to  associate  with ;  want  of 
this  makes  it  so  oppressive  :  for  what  human  soul  can 
sympathise  with  bees,  ants  and  squirrels,  which  those  are 
who  regard  the  storing  of  wealth  as  the  main  object  of 
life?  This  supposes  them  honorable  in  the  means  of 
acquiring  their  desires,  which  is  seldom  the  case  with  men 
possessed  of  this  debasing  passion;  usually  they  convert 
themselves  into  foxes,  rats,  ferrets,  rapacious  wolves, 
hyenas,  serpents,  tigers,  sharks  and  sometimes  even  far 
worse,  into  absolute  demons,  unfit  for  earth,  scorned  of 
heaven,  fit  only  for  purification  in  hell-fire.     A  sad  pity 


90  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

that  self-denial  is  not  as  assiduously  taught  the  young  as 
the  multiplication  table  is  ground  into  them  !  Prudence 
may  be  instilled  into  youths  without  making  its  cash  aspect 
the  goal  of  life,  just  as  a  mother's  care  for  her  child  may 
recommend  him  keeping  his  feet  dry  without  making  dry 
feet  the  great  object  of  his  life. 

Friday,  August  18. — The  morning  is  bright  but  remark- 
ably cold,  I  think  the  coldest  we  have  had.  Several  more 
Icebergs  have  been  seen ;  one  beautiful  specimen  was  seen 
at  the  northward;  at  first  it  appeared  like  a  great  castle 
on  the  extreme  edge  of  a  table-rock;  then  changed  to  a 
rocky  island  with  sharp  mountain  spires;  the  highest 
peaks  were  dark  grey  shimmered  with  greenish  light,  the 
lower  part  was  bathed  in  an  opalescent  halo  that  climbed 
up  the  icy  gorges  like  incense;  and  on  the  east  and  one 
great  mass  shone  a  mound  of  light  in  the  form  of  a  grave. 
When  I  first  saw  it,  it  stood  dark  against  a  light  sky  after- 
wards changed  to  ghostly  white  sheets  hung  on  a  sky  of 
darkness.  There  are  many  of  the  beautiful  birds  about  us 
to-day,  and  the  boys  catch  them  with  fish  hooks. 

Wednesday,  August  23. — I  think  I  will  never  make  a 
voyage  in  one  of  these  steamers  again,  for  a  voyage  under 
any  circumstance  is  a  detestable  thing  to  undergo,  a  hateful 
waste  of  one's  life,  a  thorough  case  of  being  buried  alive, 
a  blot  of  stagnation,  but  particularly  all  these  when  you 
cannot  sit  in  your  cabin  and  read,  must  be  loitering  idly 
about  against  your  will ;  this  is  fearful  ruination  to  every 
faculty,  causing  laxity  of  life,  carelessness  of  thought, 
laziness  and  universal  deadness.  Of  course  this  intellectual 
havoc  refers  to  myself  only,  the  others  are  not  much 
affected  by  the  life  on  shipboard,  they  are  men  who  have 
made  their  fortunes  in  business  and  going  home  to  enjoy 
them ;  they  have  no  exertion  of  mind  but  to  think  how  to 
spend  their  money  in  the  pleasantest  way. 

•  ••••• 

Saturday,  August   26.— Wind    S.W.S.,    course   N.E.N. : 
consequently  the  wind  is  right  aft,  but  not  very  strong; 


[Photograph  by  E.  Dixon. 

THE    PIPING     SHEPHEED.       IROKTISPIECE    TO    THE    "  GOLDEN    TREASURY," 

1861 

From  the  original  drawing  by  T.  Woolner  belonging  to  Miss  Palgrave. 


[To  face  page  90. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  91 

very  cold,  ice  lies  about  in  snug  corners.  They  put  the 
steam  on  last  night  and  took  it  off  this  morning.  The 
sea  is  a  world  of  agitation,  waves  covered  with  a  net  of 
foam  fibres  like  the  ribs  of  leaves;  clouds  are  harsh  and 
hard  against  the  white  coldness,  the  sun  breaks  through 
in  places  and  transmutes  the  water  to  dazzling  silver  that 
baffles  observation.  It  seems  to  grow  colder  as  we  ad- 
vance, the  counteracting  pleasure  I  feel  is  that  we  must 
grow  warmer  ere  long  :  I  like  to  put  down  our  position 
from  day  to  day  and  feel  we  are  gradually  conquering 
space;  space,  the  hard,  the  cruel  !  [I  read  yesterday  a 
beautiful  tale  of  a  poor  sailor  who  loved  a  girl  and  married 
her ;  he  had  been  in  the  coasting  trade  and  lived  comfort- 
ably till  two  children  were  born  to  him,  when  he  felt  the 
need  of  more  profits  for  his  labor  and  engaged  in  a  ship 
bound  for  a  distant  part  of  the  world  :  the  ship  was 
wrecked  and  he  thrown  on  a  desert  island.  His  wife 
waited  anxiously  his  return,  till  her  slender  means  vanished 
and  then  had  to  sell  all  her  goods;  she  then  went  away 
from  all  she  knew  and  in  secret  worked  to  support  her 
children,  which  at  last  brought  them  to  utter  misery  and 
near  starvation,  her  strength  being  insufficient.  Just  at 
this  time  a  man  who  had  loved  her  before  her  marriage 
discovered  her  and  took  the  children  to  support  and  aided 
her  in  many  ways  also.  At  last  a  sailor  appeared  who 
assured  the  poor  woman  by  certain  signs  that  her  husband 
was  really  drowned.  Hitherto  she  lived  in  hope  of  his 
return  but  now  all  was  over  :  her  kind  friend  in  due  time 
asked  her  to  become  his  wife,  at  last  in  gratitude  she  con- 
sented. They  had  been  wedded  man}^  years  when  one  bleak 
night  the  true  husband  came  back  :  he  went  to  the  house 
and  stood  outside  and  between  the  curtains  saw  his  wife 
and  her  husband,  his  own  son  and  daughter — now  grown 
to  a  lovely  girl — sitting  happily  round  the  fire;  his  wife 
was  kissing  a  baby  sleeping  on  her  breast — what  a  haven 
of  happiness  in  that  warm  room  !  What  a  hell  of  wretched- 
ness within  himself !  The  man  would  not  mar  that  joy 
by  discovering  himself,  and  felt  he  returned  "  Too  late," 
so  went  his  way.     Many  years  after  this   a  villager  going 


92  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

to  church  noticed  an  old  man  apparently  asleep  on  the 
grave  of  the  woman  which  was  beside  her  husband's;  they 
had  both  been  long  dead,  and  going  to  wake  him  found 
him  dead.  They  discovered  a  lock  of  hair  in  his  poor  old 
wrinkled  hand,  and  one  old  villager  to  whom  he  had  con- 
fided his  secret,  recognized  him  and  related  what  he  knew. 
He  said  when  the  man  returned  and  saw  their  comfort  he 
was  resolved  to  leave  his  country  again  saying  "  there  is 
no  place  here  for  me."] 

Monday,  August  28. — Wet,  sleety  and  uncomfortable 
moving  :  wind  right  aft  but  very  light ;  the  ship  rolls  a 
great  deal.  They  hoisted  the  main  royal  this  morning, 
this  looks  like  expectation  of  light  weather.  Another 
extraordinary  event  !  Last  night  I  was  awakened  by  a 
strange  noise  near  me  and  as  I  lay  in  a  dim  half  uncon 
scious  state  it  seemed  like  the  peculiar  cry  of  an  opossum ; 
but  as  I  had  not  heard  of  anyone  having  such  a  creature 
on  board  I  thought  I  might  be  mistaken  and  perhaps  it 
might  be  an  infant  wailing ;  then  again  I  knew  of  no  infant 
so  young  as  to  warrant  such  a  feeble  cry,  therefore  in  my 
doubt  I  gave  up  the  mystery  and  fell  asleep.  When  I 
came  into  the  saloon  this  morning  I  discovered  my  opos- 
sum was  a  real  baby  born  about  the  time  I  heard  the 
squeaking  wail,  and  on  mentioning  my  experience  in  the 
matter  it  afforded  a  joke  about  the  ship  :  I  have  not  the 
least  doubt  the  youngster  will  be  called  "  Opossum " 
henceforth.  The  event  took  place  in  the  cabin  next  mine, 
so  I  have  cheering  prospects  of  plenty  of  midnight  music 
the  rest  of  the  voyage.  I  can  scarcely  wonder  the  little  m 
babe  cried  at  being  brought  into  such  a  cold  uncomfort-  m 
able  world,  amid  such  sea  tumbling  and  discomfort  :  one  ^ 
thing,  it  may  prepare  it  for  the  buffets  it  must  undergo 
in  this  life  of  trouble,  so  all  may  prove  as  it  should  be. 
This  is  the  3rd  child  produced  on  the  Queen  of  the  South 
this  voyage. 

Thursday,  August  31.— Going  along  under  close  reefed 
topsails  fore  and  mainsail.  The  sea  is  in  grand  commotion 
aUve  in  every  particle.     There  is  a  squall  on  now  and  the. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  93 

sky  is  dark  :  before  this  the  clouds  were  solid  sharp  and 
hard  against  a  hard  erystaline  blue,  but  these  squalls  like 
anger  obliterate  beauty.  Last  night  while  sitting  in  the 
saloon  reading  Coleridge  I  was  startled  by  a  prodigious 
concussion  overhead;  every  one  thought  the  deck  was 
coming  in. 

Friday,  September  1. 

Last  night  read  Bacon's  Essays  with  the  same  delight 
I  ever  have  when  reading  those  masterpieces  of  thought 
and  expression.  Except  Carlyle's  no  other  Essays  in  our 
language  can  mate  with  them  in  any  way  that  I  have  read 
or  heard  of.  His  mind  is  as  pregnant  with  thought  as  a 
pomegranate  is  full  of  seed  and  sheds  truth  as  the  sun  does 
light. 

Thursday,  September  14. 

We  saw  a  ship  coming  towards  us  about  2  p.m.,  and 
deep  excitement  occurred  among  our  folks  all  eager  for 
English  news ;  after  awhile  she  shortened  sail,  and  we  saw 
she  intended  speaking  us  :  she  turned  round  by  our  lar- 
board bow,  and  when  close  enough  told  us  her  name  and 
country — Wilkelm  of  Hamburgh  just  sailed  from  Cadiz; 
our  Captain  asked  what  news  ?  The  answer  was  "  England 
is  war  with  de  Russe." 

I  saw  one  flying  fish  to-day,  being  the  second  I  have  seen 
this  voyage ;  also  a  Portuguese  man-of-war,  a  small  creature 
like  a  nautilus. 

•  ••••• 

Saturday,  September  16. 

There  are  many  flying  fish  about,  they  look  like  swallows 
in  the  graceful  turns  and  undulations  of  their  flight  :  some 
are  splendid,  the  under  part  of  the  wing  being  brilliant 
crimson  and  their  backs  dusky  blue  with  white  shining 
tails.     Made  good  runs  the  last  two  days. 


94  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Monday,  September  18. 

•  ••••• 

Last  night  I  went  down  into  my  cabin  intending  to  note 
the  brilhant  phosphorescent  light  in  the  wake  of  the  vessel 
but  the  heat  was  too  dense  and  uncomfortable  and  I  could 
not  stand  it.  I  never  before  saw  the  light  so  bright  and  in 
such  vast  quantity  :  on  the  dark  waves  the  spots  shone 
like  stars  and  in  the  depths  their  reflection  could  be  seen, 
likewise  the  wake  itself  was  a  solid  mass  of  smothered  light 
and  looked  the  galaxy  in  the  heavens ;  it  could  be  seen  for 
about  a  J  of  a  mile  :  at  first  the  sky  was  quite  dark  when 
the  light  shone  most  brilliantly,  but  soon  after  the  breeze 
freshened  and  blew  the  sky  clear  when  the  light  became 
faint  and  nearly  died  away,  except  in  here  and  there  a  few 
scattered  sparks. 

•  ••••• 

Tuesday,  September  19. 

•  ••••• 

We  glide  proudly  over  the  ocean,  our  noble  ship  throwing 
forth  a  wedge  of  foam  from  its  bows  :  the  good  ship  goes 
its  steady  course  loaded  with  responsibility, — many  anxious 
human  creatures  with  their  strange  hopes  and  fitful  passions ; 
thousands  of  letters  pregnant  with  value  or  burning  with 
emotion,  and  least,  tho'  sad  to  say,  often  regarded  as 
first,  immense  treasure  in  solid  gold.  The  breeze  is  most 
favorable  for  us  and  shows  no  sign  of  lulling,  which  fact 
acts  most  beneficially  on  our  captain  and  passengers 
generally.  I  will  write  to  Melbourne  to-day.  I  only  wish 
I  had  a  private  place  in  which  I  could  do  it. 

Thursday,  September  21. — Glorious  morning,  delicate 
cooling  breeze  from  the  north,  but  though  pleasant  it 
serves  us  little  in  making  way.  Still  under  steam  :  a  most 
grievous  pity  our  ship  is  so  foul  for  we  lose  nearly  half  the 
advantage  of  our  screw;  the  poor  Queen  labours  thro' 
the  water  like  a  big  boat  or  a  woman  swimming  encumbered 
with  her  garments.  This  morning  I  have  been  soaked  in 
perspiration  thro'  overhauling  my  boxes  to  get  some  things 
out  :   the  heat  is  not  the  only  annoyance,  the  coal  dust  is 


[Pfwtograph  by  W.  Jeffrey. 
BROTHER    AND    SISTER;    OR, 'DEAF    AND    DUMB,    1862 


[I'o  face  page  95. 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS  95 

bestowed  so  bountifully  amidst  our  goods  we  cannot  use 
them  without  immediately  becoming  covered  with  the 
same  and  appearing  like  dirty  sweeps,  blacksmiths  or 
tinkers.  The  day  is  most  charming  and  if  with  this 
atmosphere  we  could  do  as  we  would  it  would  indeed  be 
happiness. 

•  •  •  •  •  •  • 

Sunday,  September  24. — We  came  to  anchor  yesterday 
between  1  and  2  o'clock.  I  went  on  shore  with  a  party 
and  landed  about  3  p.m.,  and  after  enjoying  ourselves 
walking  about  the  town  (St.  Jago)  and  gardens  looking 
at  the  tropical  growth,  we  returned  to  the  ship  between 
6  and  7.  This  morning  I  went  on  shore  to  see  the  market 
and  returned  at  midday.  The  day  is  crammed  full  of 
excitement,  bartering  for  fruit  and  seeing  the  stock  get  on 
board  :  the  swine  were  the  drollest  possible  sight,  they 
seemed  to  entertain  a  particular  aversion  to  being  slung 
up  in  the  air  and  testified  their  disapprobation  by  most 
terrible  squeaks  and  shrieks. 

Night. — Weighed  anchor  about  3.40  p.m.,  we  are  now 
steering  northward.  I  think  I  have  seen  more  strangeness 
the  last  two  days  than  I  ever  saw  before  in  the  same  length 
of  time  :  the  completely  idle  animal  life  of  the  St.  Jago 
niggers  and  half-castes,  etc.,  struck  me  as  the  most  decidedly 
different  existence  to  what  I  had  ever  seen ;  the  Portuguese 
soldiers  with  their  correct  uniforms  and  weak  serious 
visages  I  have  seen  the  like  of  in  France;  the  poor  slap- 
dab  buildings  I  know  the  correspondencies  of;  even  the 
vegetation  I  had  mostly  seen  before,  tho'  never  looking 
comfortable;  but  this  lolling,  swimming,  dreaming, 
vacuous  life  I  never  had  a  definite  notion  of  before ;  these 
creatures  seem  bred  in  the  earth  from  contact  of  the  sun ; 
born,  live,  die  and  are  buried  in  the  sun's  heat.  All  strong, 
healthy  and  well-built,  some  are  of  exquisite  symmetry  and 
perfect  form ;  I  saw  women  that  would  be  a  mine  of  value 
to  an  artist,  and  children  that  reminded  me  of  Titania's 
Indian  fancy,  so  round,  sweet-faced  and  perfect.  These 
creatures  feed  on  bananas,  sugar-cane,  potatoes  and  cocoa 
nuts,  for  which  they  need  scarcely  do  more  than  gather  and 


96  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

devour ;  they  love  beads  on  their  wrists  and  necks  and  on 
their  children's  ankles  :  the  men  tie  a  rag  round  their  loins ; 
women  wear  something  linen  just  over  the  breasts,  which 
often  falls  as  low  as  their  feet,  tho'  by  no  means  always  : 
brats  always  naked.  They  are  all  remarkably  civil  and 
pleased  to  be  noticed  for  the  sentiment  itself,  besides  the 
"  dampar,"  or  sixpence,  they  anticipate.  There  is  none 
of  the  contempt  shown  by  the  Portuguese  natives  towards 
the  niggers  that  is  practised  by  the  Americans  to  their 
niggers ;   they  all  appear  snug  enough  together. 


Monday,  September  25. — Most  brilliant  morning,  fine 
breeze  :  a  great  number  of  dusky  sea  birds  floating  round 
and  about  us.  We  are  in  sight  of  1  island  and  lately 
passed  another.  We  lost  2  sailors  at  Porto  Praya,  and  took 
3  others  in  that  were  runaway  seamen  from  ships  that  went 
in  there  for  provisions. 

Night. — We  let  go  the  anchor  in  St.  Vincent's  harbor 
about  5.10  p.m.  after  a  delightful  sail  all  day.  This  island 
is  a  most  desolate  conglomerate  of  stony  volcanic  rubbish ; 
the  whole  length  of  the  island  I  scarcely  saw  |  a  dozen  spots 
of  greenness  some  not  more  than  3  feet  square  :  in  one 
part  up  a  mountain  of  loose  stones  I  saw  several  spots 
that  proved  to  be  goats ;  how  the  creatures  got  there  would 
puzzle  a  King  George ;  it  proves  there  must  be  something 
in  the  vegetable  line  or  how  could  the  goats  live  ?  They 
are  hardy  animals,  but  not  strong  enough  to  digest  rock 
I  should  be  inclined  to  imagine.  I  see  not  the  remotest 
sign  of  a  tree,  the  inhabitants  obtain  chief  part  of  their 
provision  from  St.  Jago,  and  gain  their  living  by  the  coal. 
The  custom  house  officer  who  boarded  us  had  no  news  of 
the  war,  and  many  were  disappointed  :  I  cannot  confess 
to  a  similar  mortification  for  I  had  thought  very  little  of 
the  matter,  well  knowing  I  could  not  change  the  state  of 
affairs  whatever  excitement  I  might  dissipate  in  :  I  sup- 
pose I  shall  hear  some  at  Southampton  and  can  rest  satisfied 
with  tolerable  fortitude  till  then. 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS  97 


T.  WooLNER  TO  His  Father,  Thomas  Woolner 

"  Queen  of  the  South,^* 

Harbour  of  St.  VincenVs  Island, 

September  26,  1854. 

My  dear  Father, 

You  will  be  surprised  to  see  a  letter  from  me  dated 
from  on  board  ship.  I  left  Port  Phillip  July  22nd  and 
arrived  here  yesterday  evening.  We  came  by  way  of 
Cape  Horn  and  merely  called  in  here  to  coal.  St.  Vincents 
being  the  general  depot  for  the  G.S.S.S.  Com.'s  ships 
to  call  for  coal  on  their  way  to  and  from  Australia  and 
India. 

•  ••••• 

The  ship  is  so  very  foul  she  loses  on  the  average  more 
than  4  knots  an  hour.  I  am  thoroughly  thro'  and  thro' 
sick  of  being  on  board,  and  lying  at  anchor  in  harbor 
surrounded  by  mountains  of  coarse  loose  sort  of  stone  that 
can  scarcely  produce  a  grass  blade  or  the  most  miserable 
shrub.  I  see  some  ugly  looking  vultures  manage  to  claw 
out  a  scraggy  existence  or  I  should  say  the  island  was 
incapable  of  sustaining  a  living  creature.  I  also  saw  the 
track  of  some  land-crabs  but  it  was  in  the  direction  and 
indeed  led  into  a  burying  ground,  I  naturally  conclude  the 
gaudy  monstrosities  feed  upon  the  dead.  Altogether  I 
should  call  St.  Vincents  the  reverse  of  an  earthly 
paradise. 

We  had  our  victualling  arrangements  so  unskilfully  per- 
formed that  we  fell  short  after  being  at  sea  only  40  days 
and  had  to  put  in  at  St.  Jago,  another  of  the  Cape  de 
Verdes,  for  provisions.  There  was  a  vast  quantity  of  fowls, 
ducks,  turkeys  taken  on  board  there,  but  the  man  who  had 
charge  being  drunk  knew  not  what  he  did,  stowed  them 
away  with  the  pigs,  and  going  to  look  at  them  the  next 
morning  found  over  100  killed  and  destroyed  by  said  pigs 
so  that  they  had  to  be  cast  overboard.  St.  Jago  is  not 
like  this  place  except  in  being  a  volcanic  district,  for  it  is 
so  fertile  it  not  only  supplies  this  rock  with  all  it  wants, 
but  numerous  ships  that  continuously  call  to  renovate  the 
larder  :  they  are  nearly  half  niggers  there,  being  8000 
slaves  and  10,000  freemen. 

The  man  is  shouting  to  be  quick.     I  must  finish  in  hurry. 

Your  affectionate  son, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


98  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Wednesday,  September  27. 

•  ••••• 

The  women  here  mostly  are  anything  but  beauties,  not 
so  finely  formed  as  the  Jago  ones,  nor  did  they  appear 
such  a  merry  easy  going  set  of  creatures  altogether  :  I 
believe  this  difference  must  be  occasioned  by  the  soil  itself 
and  influences  of  the  weather.  Here  is  aridity,  choking 
dust  and  no  greenness  except  a  few  scrubby  pine  looking 
stumps,  stony  hills  that  cannot  grow  a  grass  blade  and 
clouds  floating  about  that  will  not  rain  :  there  is  luxurious 
vegetation  growing  without  much  attention,  their  hardest 
work  seems  eating  rich  fruit  the  earth  throws  forth  :  and 
looking  round  they  see  green  mountains  plunging  into  the 
clouds  as  a  beast  thrusts  its  head  into  a  thicket  for  shade  : 
the  one  life  is  a  wandering  over  a  dust  heap  for  scraps, 
the  other  wallows  joyously  in  the  midst  of  plenty,  shining 
on  the  fat  of  the  land.  At  this  place  I  went  along  the  plain 
some  distance  to  a  well  where  the  town  gets  supplied  with 
water  :  it  was  just  such  a  one  as  we  read  of  in  extremely 
old  books,  such  as  Homer  and  the  Bible  :  there  I  saw 
Rebecca  standing  on  the  stone  coping  of  the  well  drawing 
up  water,  each  round  dusky  arm  alternately  down  and 
aloft :  her  garments  most  generously  disposed  :  I  appre- 
hend she  was  scarcely  well  accustomed  to  a  European 
stare,  for  as  I  stood  looking  upon  her  scarf-bound  head, 
slightly  turned  aside,  and  watched  the  smile  tremulous  on 
her  lips — it  might  be  fancy — but  I  thought  I  saw  through 
that  dark  cheek  of  hers  the  rich  pomegranate  flushing  into 
bloom.  The  way  of  carrying  water  has  the  oldest  and  most 
romantic  effect;  one  I  saw  with  the  bottom  of  the  red 
earthenware  vessel  on  the  palm  of  her  hand,  not  with  her 
fingers  towards  you,  but  towards  her  own  back,  which  gave 
a  most  delightfully  graceful  effect  :  the  most  common  way 
is  to  carry  the  jars  on  their  heads  without  wadding  or 
padding  of  any  kind. 

Thursday,  September  28. — Dirt,  noise  and  confusion 
throughout  the  ship,  for  the  foul  process  of  coaling  goes 
on  with  proper  vigour  :    when  we  shall  get  away  I  know 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  99 

not  but  some  time  this  afternoon  I  suppose.  The  water  is 
remarkably  green ;  anyone  sitting  near  catches  the  reflec- 
tion and  looks  verdant  in  the  extreme  :  fancy  a  green  head 
of  hair  !  but  such  is  the  fact,  I  could  not  well  have  believed 
it  without  seeing  :  it  is  more  like  green  paint  than  an 
ethereal  thing  like  reflection,  several  times  I  have  been 
quite  deceived.  The  water  is  so  clear  the  bottom  can  be 
seen  distinctly;  there  are  innumerable  fishes  of  all  kinds. 
I  saw  a  shark  this  morning  floating  lazily  thro'  the  wave 
and  sometimes  thrusting  up  his  dorsal  fin. 

•  ••••• 

Sunday,  October  1. 

•  ••••• 

Another  vessel  just  hove  in  sight  :  at  first  it  showed  like 
a  minute  sparkle  on  the  fire  waters  then  grew  into  a  pale 
butterfly,  now  it  swells  a  proud  ship  manifest  to  all.  The 
day  has  grown  very  warm.  I  saw  one  of  the  finest  fields 
of  cirri  at  noon  that  ever  was  ;  every  form  of  mottling  that 
could  be  conceived;  cluster  of  curved  shells  raying  in 
graduated  succession,  breadths  of  vapor  scarce  seen 
curdling  into  substance,  and  millions  of  whirling  little 
manes  rampant  thro'  the  sky. 

•  ••••• 

Monday,  October  2. 

Night. — When  I  rose  this  morning  I  little  thought  the 
fortune  of  beauty  was  in  store  for  me  I  enjoyed  to-niglit. 
A  wondrous  sunset  !  An  immortal  dower  to  all  who  saw 
it.  One  might  as  well  attempt  to  describe  the  countless 
variety  of  form  in  the  splashing  waves  of  the  ocean ;  the 
universe  of  intricacy  in  a  great  forest  or  the  complex 
passions  that  agitate  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  as  yield 
even  a  faint  notion  of  the  heavenly  splendour  that  shone 
upon  our  gazing  as  we  stood  looking  with  loving  eyes 
upon  the  sun's  departure  to-night.  North,  South,  East 
and  West,  the  perfect  circumference  of  the  sky  was  crowded 
to  astonishment  with  delicate  to  ponderous  passages  of 
fineness  or  power  :  it  was  a  ring  of  magnificence,  and  the 
sun  was  the  precious  jewel  in  that  rich  setting.     Round 


100  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

the  sun  was  a  wreath  of  deep  burning  light — the  lower  sky 
was  red  hot — not  to  be  looked  at  far  less  written  down; 
flames  dashed  from  the  glowing  sky  as  sparks  flash  from 
beaten  iron ;  the  water  was  fluid  metal  :  above  the  densest 
body  of  fire  lay  a  plain  of  clear  crystalline  sapphire,  so  pure, 
serene  and  beautiful,  had  the  bright  forms  of  silver  sparkle 
shining  there  been  angels  of  God  singing  everlasting  joy 
one  could  not  wonder  more; — had  a  long,  plaintive  wail 
for  past  dismay  come  floating  over  the  sea,  and  continued 
warbling  love  and  pity  to  all  mankind,  till  evil  hearts 
melted  in  delicious  sympathy,  and  giant  Wrong  dropt  his 
sword  and  chain  like  things  accursed  to  the  lowest  darkness 
of  ocean,  and  long-suffering  man,  regenerated,  had  leaped 
like  the  morning,  from  his  long,  black  dream,  I  say  these 
things  had  not  given  me  any  surprise  !  "  What  would  life 
be  without  such  sights  as  these?  " 

Friday,  October  6. — A  delightful  morning,  fine  breeze  not 
in  our  favor  so  much  as  might  be  wished.  I  felt  some- 
thing in  the  air  this  morning  that  vividly  reminded  me  of 
England;  I  could  fully  believe  and  hold  the  fact  that  I 
was  drawing  near  :  it  might  be  the  iron  gray  sea  laced  over 
with  threads  of  froth  and  bursting  foam,  or  the  hard  gray 
sky  of  dark  clouds  fleeced  with  rainy  vapor  and  shattered 
thro'  with  lovely  openings  of  azure,  or  the  fresh  chill  wind. 

Sunday,  October  8. 

•  ••••• 

There  was  a  poor  weary  storm-tossed  lark  settled  on 
the  ship  this  morning ;  it  trembled  with  fear  and  weakness 
looking  around  upon  us  with  its  full  clear  eyes  :  one  fellow 
made  a  dab  and  frightened  it  off  :  I  saw  it  a  few  seconds 
struggling  with  the  wind  and  lost  it  in  a  great  glare  of 
sunshine  that  lay  on  the  water.  A  ship  passed  us  early 
this  morning  which  the  Captain  says  was  a  man  of  war. 
We  shall  soon  be  in  the  thick  of  the  ships.  At  noon  we 
were  740  miles  from  Start  Point  :  now  we  are  less  than 
1000  I  feel  getting  near  home.  A  fine  brig  has  just  passed 
on  the  port  side.     The  breeze  is  delightful  and  swells  the 


V/h«M     'f,'^'^    tu^AMoU     shook    T?L     ^'>w 
'V^  tov^    cp^wi^     WoWh,  o^ju.    o\^Co!^tt^   %hcxxAM^^^ 

[Photograph  hti  II.  Dixon. 
SPECIMEN    OF    WOOLNER's    HANDWRITING 
Verses  from  MS.  of  My  Beautiful  Lady. 


[To  face  page  lOO. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  101 

sails  quite  hard  with  plumpness  :  the  foam  flies  from  us  in 
broad  sheets  and  glitter  in  the  sun.  I  have  been  standing 
on  the  forecastle  where  the  action  of  the  ship  can  be  seen 
more  vividly  than  elsewhere,  and  really  sometimes  she 
looks  as  if  she  enjoyed  the  tumbling. 

Tuesday,  October  10. 

Night, — Not  many  more  of  them  here.  Going  along 
well,  8  knots  full.  After  dinner  soon  after  sundown  I  saw 
a  meteor  float  along  the  air  close  to  the  ship,  it  passed  by 
the  beam  and  half  round  the  stern  then  vanished.  I  have 
read  of  souls  departing  in  a  flame  of  light  and  could  almost 
imagine  this  a  vital  spark  of  some  one  quitting  this  con- 
tentious world.  I  hope  not.  It  was  the  purest  light  I 
ever  saw  and  the  most  serenely  lovely. 

Wednesday,  October  11. — Last  night  put  away  my  writ- 
ing to  join  in  a  game  of  whist  with  Mr.  Peel  and  others  : 
I  am  not  fond  of  card  playing  but  as  we  play  only  for 
pastime  and  not  money  there  is  no  harm.  When  I  went 
to  bed  we  were  going  with  a  glorious  breeze  about  9  J  knots, 
but  this  morning  found  a  head  wind. 

•  ••••• 

Thursday,  October  12. 

Night. — Abreast  the  celebrated  Eddystone  Lighthouse  : 
we  did  not  expect  to  hug  the  land  so  closely  and  the  Start 
was  to  have  been  our  next  indication  of  land.  I  have  seen 
plenty  of  seaweed  floating  in  patches  to-day ;  even  this  link 
between  sea  and  land  tho'  trifling  is  thrice  welcome.  I  saw 
dotted  in  various  points  on  the  horizon  13  craft  at  once; 
we  spoke  one  and  learned  the  war  continues  and  Sebastopol 
is  taken  ! 

•  ••••• 

For  myself  though  I  have  occasionally  enjoyed  a  little 
intercourse,  and  the  sunsets,  the  mellow  flow  of  light 
around  the  moon,  the  wild  splashing  of  ocean,  the  noon- 
day clouds,  the  sailors'  cheerful  activity,  and  the  skill  of 


102  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

command,  my  chief  enjoyment  has  been  within  myself 
what  was  in  no  way  connected  with  the  ship,  the  people  on 
the  ship  or  the  ocean  on  which  we  rode  :  I  have  had  genuine 
joy,  deep  and  everlasting  :  and  as  it  has  been  during  the 
voyage  I  must  ever  recur  to  it  with  satisfaction  as  a  pleasant 
portion  of  life.  Throughout  my  noting  are  numerous 
complaints,  some  sharp  and  vexing  at  the  time,  but  they 
grow  dim  in  the  mist  of  distant  time,  and  as  I  approach 
my  glorious  country  these  things  diminish  to  small  specks 
of  remembrance  and  I  can  feel  joy  alone  for  what  has 
brought  me  to  her  again,  and  as  I  look  back  from  the  com- 
ing years  surely  the  prime  feeling  will  be  kindliness  and 
gratitude  towards  our  good  ship  Queen  of  the  South. 

Friday,  October  13. — ^When  I  finished  the  above  last  night 
I  went  on  deck  and  saw  the  Start  Light ;  we  came  abreast 
about  lOj  p.m.  I  saw  the  land  when  I  woke  this  morning 
and  could  not  lie  in  bed  comfortably  under  the  circum- 
stances, and  so  dressed  and  came  on  deck  to  look  at  the 
dear  pale  cliffs,  a  comfort  to  my  eyes,  ease  to  my  soul,  as 
food  to  a  hungry  man  this  sight  to  my  desires. 

So  Woolner  returned  to  England  from  his  gold-digging 
adventures,  the  hard  open-air  life  had  done  him  a  world  of 
good,  both  in  health  and  spirits,  and  he  did  not  regret 
his  experiences.  He  was  strengthened  and  refreshed, 
and  felt  that  he  could  now  gain  his  living  by  his  art  and  get 
enough  portrait  work  to  do  to  enable  him,  with  the  money 
thus  earned,  to  carry  out  his  ideal  artistic  aspirations. 
He  was  little  changed  in  appearance,  and  the  frontispiece 
represents  him  as  he  then  was.^  He  came  back  to  London 
hoping  to  get  the  Wentworth  Statue  to  do,  leaving  Sydney 
where  he  had  plenty  of  work,  on  the  chance  of  getting  the 
commission.  While  he  was  in  Melbourne  and  Sydney 
he  modelled  many  medallion  portraits,  most  of  which 
have  been  cast  in  bronze;    of  especial  merit  among  them 

1  He  did  not  grow  a  beard  until  1858,  when  he  wrote  to  IVIrs.  Tennyson  : 
"  Tell  Hallam  he  will  not  know  me  unless  he  try  to  imagine  me  with  a 
cocoanut  mat  tied  round  my  chin  !  !  when  perhaps  he  may  manage  it." 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  103 

may  be  mentioned  those  of  W.  C.  Went  worth,  Governor 
Latrobe,  Sir  Charles  Fitzroy,  William  Fanning,  the  boy 
Charlie  Howitt  and  his  sister  Edith  Howitt.  The  treat- 
ment of  the  hair  in  these  medallions  is  a  notable  feature. 
Woolner  often  worked  himself  on  the  bronzes,  after 
their  return  from  the  foundry,  giving  them  a  quality 
and  surface  rarely  seen  in  any  other  medallions. 

Before  Woolner  went  to  Australia  he  had  many  friends, 
among  the  earliest  he  numbered  Dante  Gabriel  Rossetti, 
William  Rossetti  and  the  other  members  of  the  Rossetti 
family,  Frederic  George  Stephens,  William  Allingham, 
Ford  Madox  Brown,  Coventry  Patmore  and  his  wife 
("The  Angel"),  Alfred  Tennyson  and  Mrs.  Tennyson, 
Thomas  Carlyle  and  IMrs.  Carlyle,  Robert  Browning  and 
Mrs.  Browning,  W.  B.  Scott  and  his  wdfe,  and  members 
of  the  Orme  family.  When  he  returned  to  England,  be- 
tween the  years  1855  and  1865  his  art  brought  him  into 
a  vast  circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances,  and  it  is  hardly 
exaggeration  to  say  he  came  in  contact  in  one  way  or 
another  with  most  of  the  people  of  note  in  the  artistic 
and  literary  world  of  his  day.  His  truthfulness  and 
enthusiasm  made  him  beloved  of  his  friends,  but  there 
is  no  doubt  his  outspoken  opinions  and  sentiments  did  not 
help  him  in  a  worldly  sense.  If  he  thought  a  work  of  art 
carelessly  executed  he  would  say  so  :  he  could  not  praise 
what  he  did  not  think  good  or  which  showed  a  want  of 
the  best  efforts  of  the  artist,  be  he  painter,  sculptor  or 
writer.     Careless  work  or  slack  work  he  heartily  condemned. 


CHAPTER   IV 

The  next  ten  years  of  the  sculptor's  life  will  be  told 
almost  entirely  by  means  of  letters;  the  greater  number 
being  those  written  to  him,  although  his  letters  to  Mrs. 
Tennyson  have  fortunately  been  preserved. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

15,  Mary  Street, 
Regent's  Park, 

October  23,  1854. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  hope  you  will  forgive  me  for  not  keeping  my 
promise  to  write  to  you  from  Australia,  but  really  I  could 
have  told  you  nothing  that  would  have  interested  you,  .  .  . 
and  I  only  trespass  on  your  time  now  because  I  am  anxious 
to  hear  of  you  and  Mr.  Tennyson  and  your  little  sons, 
who  are  most  splendid  looking  boys  I  hear  from  Mrs. 
Patmore.  .  .  . 

I  am  come  to  England  to  try  to  obtain  the  execution 
of  a  statue  of  William  Wentworth  that  is  to  be  placed  in 
Sydney  :  rather  a  long  distance  to  travel  on  a  chance, 
but  I  have  solid  grounds  for  hoping  it  will  be  given  to  me 
or  I  should  not  have  left  Australia  for  another  year,  as 
my  works  in  Sydney  were  very  much  liked  and  I  could 
obtain  plenty  of  employment,  taking  likenesses  only  of 
course,  but  in  this  department  of  art  the  colonists  were 
fully  willing  to  give  encouragement.  ...  I  was  not 
successful  in  my  mining  expedition  and  did  not  find  nearly 
enough  gold  to  pay  the  expenses  necessary :  but  I  by 
no  means  regret  having  visited  the  magnificent  country, 
some  of  the  scenes  in  which  gave  me  more  pleasure  than 
any  I  ever  saw  before,  being  more  wild,  vast  and  solitary. 
I  hear  of  many  books,  articles,  letters,  etc.,  denying  the 
delicious  purity  of  Australian  air. 

•  ••••• 

I  found  it  all  that  could  be  desired  everywhere  except 

104 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  105 

in   Melbourne,    where   the    hot    winds    almost    stifle    the 
inhabitants  occasionally. 

•  ••••• 

Give  my  kindest  regards  to  Mr.  Tennyson  and  tell  him 
his  vol.  of  Poems  was  the  richest  intellectual  enjoyment 
I  had  during  my  2  years  and  J  of  exile,  it  was  to  me  the 
only  link  that  connected  savagery  and  civilisation. 

Believe  me. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 
Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

P.S. — The  specimen  I  send  is  an  instance  of  how  the  gold 
is  frequently  found,  amalgamated  with  quartz,  and  is 
more  interesting  than  mere  gold  and  I  thought  you  would 
prefer  it. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

15,  Mary  Street, 
Regent's  Pari:, 

December  25,  18oi. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  been  thinking  of  the  medallion  and  have  con- 
cluded it  will  be  better  to  make  another  entirely  of  a 
smaller  size  :  the  present  one  could  easily  be  altered 
but  the  size  I  strongly  object  to  :  a  head  or  a  figure  should 
never  be  more  than  half  size  unless  full  life  sized,  and  this 
is  nearly  f. 

Tell  Mr.  Tennyson  it  will  not  require  a  great  deal  of 
time  as  I  am  so  well  acquainted  with  his  features  now, 
and  he  need  not  anticipate  it  as  an  extraordinarily  for- 
midable task  :  Millais  told  me  he  read  him  some  new 
poems  of  such  marvellous  beauty,  that  they  surpassed 
anything  he  had  ever  done  before,  which  of  course  I  find 
too  hard  to  believe  true,  as  I  do  not  believe  perfection  can 
be  more  than  perfect. 

I  am  delighted  to  hear  Rossetti  and  Millais  are  going  to 
illustrate  the  poems,  with  Hunt,  they  are  the  only  men 
who  ought  to  presume  to  tread  upon  that  enchanted  ground. 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


106  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

March  29,  1855. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Many  thanks  for  your  kind  letter.  We  cannot 
quarrel  with  you  if  you  borrow  a  little  sunshine  from 
imagination  to  throw  over  your  visit  at  Farringford, 
however  puritanical  we  may  be  in  our  worship  of  truth. 

Hallam  is  obliged  now  to  make  the  best  he  can  of  his 
Mother.  His  chief  delight  is  Mr.  Burchell  and  he  exclaims 
"  Fudge  "  with  roars  of  laughter  a  hundred  times  together. 
He  insists  on  having  this  book  and  no  other  after  dinner. 
Alfred  laughs  at  him  because  I  maintain  it  is  on  account 
of  the  superior  grace  of  the  designs.  Little  Lionel  lifts 
his  hands  in  a  very  pretty  way  to  the  "  Madonna  and 
Child  "  when  he  comes  into  the  Drawing-room  and  says 
"  Lady !  Pretty !  Baby  !  "  if  you  could  not  admire 
his  taste  you  would  at  least  like  to  see  him  clap  his  little 
hands  as  he  does  sometimes  at  this  picture.  We  have 
had  snow  and  hail  since  you  left.  I  have  another  letter 
to  write,  so  farewell.  There  are  three  more  tiny  poems 
added  to  "  Maud." 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 


T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 
Hampstead  Road, 

November  18,  1855. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

As  regards  doing  a  bust,  it  is  what  I  have  wished  many 
years,  to  do  one  of  him,  and  I  know  nothing  that  would 
please  me  so  much.  I  was  going  to  model  a  group  to  be 
exhibited  next  year  in  the  R.  Academy,  but  if  you  can 
persuade  him  to  let  me  do  his  bust,  I  would  postpone  the 
modelling  of  my  group  and  exhibit  it  the  following  year 
instead.  If  he  will  let  me,  will  you  at  the  same  time 
allow  me  to  make  a  medallion  of  you,  for  I  feel  certain 
I  should  be  able  to  do  one  both  he  and  you  would  be 
pleased  with. 


{Photograph  by  Kent  and  Lacey. 
DR.    ALEXANDER    WAUGH,  MINISTER    OF   THE    SCOTCH 
PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH 

From  a  lassie  gem,  1791. 


[To  face  page  107. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  107 

Patmore  has  just  called.  .  .  .  He  has  completed  the 
2nd  vol.  of  the  Angel  except  5  idylls  and  intends  publishing 
as  soon  as  it  is  completed.  I  saw  a  review  of  a  Poem  by 
"  Festus  "  and  in  an  extract  occurred,  the  word  "  Psycho- 
pompous  !  " 

I  think  this  the  most  curious  instance  of  departure  from 
simplicity  I  have  seen  for  a  long  time. 

Yours  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

November  21,  1855. 
Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Many  thanks  for  your  kind  letter.  I  am  sure  you 
will  know  I  did  not  for  one  moment  mean  to  ask  you  to 
give  up  more  time  to  us  than  you  have  already  done. 
I  only  felt  I  must  tell  you  how  it  w^as  that  another  was 
going  to  do  a  bust  of  Alfred,^  because  it  seemed  to  me  after 
all  your  labour  you  would  have  a  right  to  be  hurt,  if  you 
did  not  know  how  it  came  to  pass,  and  I  cannot  help 
wishing  it  were  you  who  had  to  do  it  and  to  say  also, 
that  if  you  still  wished  it  you  should  have  an  opportunity 
of  fulfilling  your  wish.  But  then  we  both  think  you  ought 
not  to  give  up  that  group.  If  you  wished  to  do  the  bust 
it  could  be  done  I  suppose  any  time  you  are  here  and 
finished  when  you  had  not  other  work  in  hand.  Perhaps 
it  is  presumptuous  to  talk  thus  considering  the  uncertainties 
of  life.  What  you  say  of  my  medallion  is  most  kind, 
but  some  way  I  cannot  feel  it  right  to  let  you  waste  your 
time  on  my  lean  face  which  should  have  been  drawn  ten 
years  ago  at  least,  if  at  all.  But,  if  you  think  I  say  this 
with  the  slightest  feeling  you  would  not  make  a  medallion 
we  should  both  like,  you  are  very  much  mistaken.  Do 
you  not  remember  how  much  we  admired  your  ladies? 
Perhaps  you  do  not  but  I  do  ! 

•  ••••• 

Alfred's  kindest  remembrances. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

^  Bust  by  Brodie. 


108  THOMAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road, 

December  23,  1855. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

You  must  think  me  very  ungrateful  to  have  so  long 
neglected  answering  your  kind  beautiful  letter,  but  it  is 
not  quite  my  fault,  as  I  have  had  to  wait  the  convenience 
of  others  to  discover  when  I  should  be  free  from  petty 
engagements.  I  think  my  road  is  clear  at  last.  I  have 
been  modelling  a  posthumous  medallion,  which  has  taken 
me  6  times  as  long  as  it  need  have,  because  the  deceased's 
friends  were  too  inert  or  busy  to  come  and  see  it. 

What  you  say  of  your  own  medallion,  that  it  should 
have  been  done  10  years  ago,  I  can  scarcely  agree  with; 
for  tho'  probably  your  face  may  have  been  rounder  then, 
I  know  the  expression  was  no  better  and  I  think  not  so 
good  :  the  expression  of  persons  whose  minds  are  fixed 
upon  high  and  holy  things  grows  better  every  instant  of 
their  lives,  thro'  growing  in  fact  nearer  to  that  perfection 
they  contemplate.  I  feel  confident  your  face  is  admirably 
adapted  for  sculpture,  therefore  I  hope  you  will  be  resigned 
to  your  fate.   .  .  . 

I  saw  Moxon  a  few  days  ago,  he  seemed  in  high  glee 
that  the  illustrations  were  being  completed  so  quickly, 
his  only  complaint  was  of  G.  Rossetti,  but  he  is  now, 
I  believe,  hard  at  work  upon  them. 

•  ••••• 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

January  1,  1856. 

A  happy  New  Year  to  you,  Dear  Mr.  Woolner,  lovely 
visions  fixed  for  ever  in  marble  to  astonish  and  delight 
the  world,  and  whatever  else  your  heart  most  longs  for, 
and  whatever  there  is  good  for  you,  whether  you  long 
for  it  or  not  ! 

Many  thanks  for  your  kind  letter.  The  time  you 
mention  will,  I  think,  be  quite  convenient.     If  any  un- 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  109 

expected  hindrance  should  arise  I  will  tell  you.  At  present 
Alfred  is  at  the  Grange,  but  he  had  no  intention  of  staying 
more  than  three  or  four  days.  We  must  catch  him  as  we 
can  for  the  few  sittings  you  will  want.  I  hope  it  may  be 
warm  enough  for  us  to  be  in  the  Drawing-room  for  I  fear 
the  Study  would  not  be  so  good  a  light  for  you. 

The  chicks  are  threatening.  I  must  get  a  little  walk 
before  they  do  more  than  threaten.  The  children  are 
well.  They  have  been  charmed  to-day  by  a  kite  which 
Uncle  Weld  has  made  for  them.  Hallam  wanted  to  know 
"  if  Hallam  would  go  up  to  the  sky  with  a  string?  "  and 
Baby  began  flying  a  letter  of  mine  for  his  kite. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road, 

January  6,  1856. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  return  your  pleasant  greetings  for  the  new  year 
tho'  you  need  them  not,  having  already  all  the  good  this 
earth  affords,  a  husband  glorious  and  mighty  among  men, 
children  lovely  as  they  can  be,  the  honor  of  your  friends 
and  the  infinite  treasure  of  desert ;  what  can  enrich  these  ? 
I  can  but  hope  you  will  live  many  many  long  years  to  enjoy 
your  blessings. 

I  think  it  will  be  of  no  consequence  where  the  bust  is 
modelled. 

I  feel  certain  he  ^  anticipates  the  operation  with  shoulder- 
shrugging  horror  and  I  feel  sorry  to  torture  him,  but  as  it 
is  a  duty  I  owe  myself  and  country  I  nerve  myself  to 
disregard  the  fact  :  I  owe  it  to  myself,  because  in  all 
probability  I  shall  never  have  another  head  to  equal 
his  so  long  as  I  live,  therefore  ought  to  make  the  most  of 
it :  to  my  country,  for  in  some  future  age  how  many 
would  regret  if  there  were  no  adequate  representation  of 
him  ?  I  hope  to  lure  him  into  complacency  by  doing  such 
a  likeness  of  you  as  will  please  him,  and  reward  your  trouble 
in  sitting  by  doing  his  bust  in  a  way  that  will  satisfy  you ; 
such  are  my  purposes  and  wiles.     Moxon  told  me  if  business 

^  Tennyson. 


110  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

went  satisfactorily  with  him  this  spring  he  would  give  me 
a  commission  to  do  it  in  marble. 

•  ••••• 

I  was  glad  to  read  what  you  told  me  of  Hallam  and 
baby ;   I  long  to  see  them  for  they  interest  me  excessively. 

•  ••••• 

Give  my  kindest  remembrances  to  the  great  man,  and 
with  many  thanks  for  your  kindness 

Ever  truly  yours 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road, 

March  17,  1856. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  merely  write  a  few  words  in  haste  to  accompany 
Luchesi  who  brings  the  box. 

•  ••••• 

I  am  delighted  to  send  you  a  Myall  box — violet  scented 
wood — which  I  begged  from  an  Australian  friend  yesterday 
— he  turned  the  box  himself  in  Australia ;  inside  is  a  little 
lump  of  gold  for  Lionel,  which  he  can  have  made  into  a 
pin  when  he  arrives  at  the  proper  manly  proportions — 
there  is  a  whip  that  will  not  wear  out  for  Hallam,  and  so 
he  can  thrash  away  fearlessly.  There  are  some  things  for 
Apollo  to  clean  the  tubes  of  his  pipes  with,  and  some  of 
the  kind  of  birdseye  weed  I  smoke. 

•  ••••• 

I  likewise  send  said  Apollo  some  blank  books  of  which 
he  stood  in  need  :  there  is  one  for  his  pocket,  that  he 
may  be  tempted  to  set  down  the  lovely  lines  he  makes 
while  out  walking  instead  of  trusting  to  a  treacherous 
memory — the  writing  will  not  rub  out  tell  him  :  there  is 
one  thick  book  wherein  I  wish  you  would  persuade  him  to 
write  down  all  the  exquisite  pictures  he  has  ready  formed 
in  words  so  that  they  may  not  be  lost,  it  grieves  me  to 
think  what  risk  they  run  of  fading  out. 

There  is  a  small  india-rubber  house  which  is  to  serve 
Hallam  for  a  model  in  the  development  of  his  constructive 
propensities,  and  a  rare  virtue  for  a  child's  toy,  it  will  not 
break. 

Luchesi  will  only  make  the  mould  of  the  bust  at  Farring- 
ford  but  will  cast  it  in  town;    I  asked  him  to  cast  the 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  111 

forehead  of  the  original  and  just  the  tip  of  his  nose,  for  if 
I  do  the  bust  in  marble  they  will  be  an  assurance  to  me. 

[No  signature.] 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

March  20,  1856. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

There  is  one  I  can  answer  for  as  half  inclined  to 
cry  seeing  so  many  kindly  appropriate  remembrances. 
We  feel  there  is  one  friend  at  least  who  does  not  find 
the  Solent  a  Lethe.  Accept  our  best  thanks.  The  boys 
were  as  delighted  as  you  could  desire  them  to  be.  All 
the  balls  danced  together  and  the  licence  to  whip  Mamma 
were  particularly  charming. 

The  little  stretcher  Hallam  appropriated  as  "  mys  " 
and  began  forthwith  exercising  himself.  "  Apollo  did  not 
strike  the  lyre  "  on  the  occasion  of  your  departure  but  he 
mourned  in  sober  honest  prose  and  said  how  sorry  he  was 
you  were  gone.  Baby  asked  for  you  and  Hallam  said 
you  were  "  gone  over  the  great  towns."  Luchesi  says 
the  bust  is  not  at  all  injured  by  waiting.  Alfred  watered 
it  sedulously  on  Tuesday  and  Wednesday. 

We  have  had  our  noses  taken  according  to  order  and 
A.  has  had  his  forehead  and  hand  taken.  ..."  Merlin  " 
goes  on  grandly.  I  think  "  Trust  me  not  at  all "  or 
""  Trust  me  all  in  all  "  has  grown  into  an  exquisite  song. 
I  hope  your  kind  gifts  will  preserve  many  a  precious  scrap. 

[No  signature.] 


T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road, 

April  15,  1856. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

•  ••••• 

How  sorry  I  am  you  are  not  finally  settled  about  your 
house ;  I  had  been  flattering  myself  your  bothers  were 
nearly  ended,  or  they  would  be  when  the  sale  was  over. 

Moxon  has  not  been  to  see  the  bust  tho'  I  expect  him 
every  day  :  all  who  have  admire  it  very  much ;  some 
say  it  is  by  far  the  finest  thing  I  have  done  and  everybody 


112  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

who  knows  the  original  says  the  Hkeness  is  as  striking  as 
possible  :  but  I  think  no  one  has  admired  it  so  much  as 
Millais  who  went  quite  into  raptures  at  the  sight  of  it, 
and  told  me  to  tell  you  he  thought  it  "  splendid,"  he  said 
no  other  word  would  express  his  feeling  with  regard  to 
it  :  as  a  proof  of  his  sincerity  he  gave  me  a  commission 
to  do  a  bust  of  himself,^  which  I  am  to  do  when  he  comes 
to  live  in  London  and  he  means  to  have  in  either  marble 
or  bronze ;  he  said  he  would  likewise  have  one  of  his  wife 
if  he  could  afford  it,  but  at  present  this  is  uncertain. 

I  am  delighted  tliat  "  Merlin  "  is  written  safely  down  : 
how  I  wish  I  could  hear  it ;  I  quite  envy  those  fortunates 
who  have. 

My  dearest  remembrances  to  the  great  man  and  your 
Darlings. 

Ever  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

April  18,  1856. 
Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

What  a  wonderful  medallion  have  you  sent.  Won- 
derful in  delicacy  !  I  congratulate  you  that  after  all  your 
unheard  of  labours  and  misfortunes  the  result  is  so  admir- 
able. The  only  thing  I  would  suggest  is  the  scraping 
away  of  a  little  of  the  nose  underneath  the  nostril  all 
along  to  the  point  so  as  to  shorten  the  nose  a  wee  bit; 
if  this  would  not  bother  you  and  if  you  think  it  right. 

We  were  delighted  to  hear  what  Millais  said  and  did. 
I  do  hope  that  little  statue  of  yours  ^  will  do  great  things 
for  you.  We  shall  look  with  warm  interest  for  any  proofs 
of  appreciation. 

•  *•••• 

We  both  of  us  went  to  the  Grand  Review  [of  the  Fleet] 
in  the  little  Solent  and  saw  things  very  comfortably  and 
well.  The  sight  was  magnificent.  I  wish  you  had  been 
there.  I  got  a  ticket  by  mistake  and  so  I  came  to  be 
there.     I  am  glad  I  went.     The  firing  along  the  whole 

1  This  Bust  was  not  made.  ^  The  statue  of  "  Love." 


[P>ioto(jrap/i  by  Miss  L.    Casuall-Sniitfi. 
ALICE    GERTRUDE    WOOLNER 

From  a  i)ainting  by  Arthur  Hughes. 


[7'o  face  page  113. 


HIS  LIFE   IN  LETTERS  113 

line  when  the  Queen  was  saluted,  the  clearing  of  the  smoke 
when  ships  and  distant  hills  began  to  be  seen  again,  the 
long  line  of  ships  standing  up  still  and  grand  like  an  avenue 
of  sphinxes,  the  cheering,  the  manning  the  yards,  the 
great  ships  turning  in  slow  majesty  one  after  the  other. 
We  are  glad  to  have  seen  so  grand  a  sight. 

Poor  Mr.  Angus  Fletcher  pray  tell  him  with  our  kind 
regards  how  sorry  we  are  to  hear  of  his  lameness.  It  must 
be  a  great  trial. 

Alfred's  love  and  the  boys'. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

April  29  [1856]. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  am  rejoiced  to  find  you  are  so  well  satisfied  with 
the  medallion  and  have  no  doubt  that  the  suggestion 
concerning  the  nose  is  correct,  for  I  have  never  found  you 
wrong  in  any  you  have  made  hitherto  :  so  soon  as  the 
box  arrives  I  will  look  to  it.  I  have  always  taken  your 
hints  but  in  one  instance,  and  now  find  I  was  wrong  in 
not  doing  so  :  I  refer  to  making  the  right  jaw  of  the  bust 
a  trifle  thicker  as  you  wished  and  I  did  not  see ;  now  I  see 
clearly  it  requires  that  addition.  ...  I  am  heartily  glad 
you  both  enjoyed  the  naval  review  so  much;  I  am  sure 
it  must  have  been  a  splendid  exhibition  of  power  :  .  .  . 
Give  him  [Tennyson]  my  most  devoted  love  and  your 
little  darlings. 

Ever  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road, 

May  28  [1856]. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  was  delighted  to  hear  from  you  again.  .  .  . 
I  have  at  last  finished  your  med.  and  I  think  it  looks  very 
well ;  I  feel  sure  there  is  some  of  your  character,  for 
various  persons  who  have  seen  it  remarked  upon  the 
extreme  sensitiveness  it  displayed,  and  some  said  it  was 
I 


114  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

the  most  sensitive  face  they  ever  saw.  ...  I  saw  the 
illustrations,  some  time  ago  and  liked  some  of  Millais* 
extremely  :  the  one  I  preferred  is  I  imagine  that  you 
mentioned — it  is  a  young  man  leaning  on  a  stick  and  a 
lovely  girl  talking  to  him,  there  were  two  from  "  Dora  " 
and  one  from  the  "  Sisters  "  I  liked  very  much;  that  old 
tower  with  the  wild  sky  I  thought  extraordinarily  fine, 
in  nearly  all  Millais'  was  great  excellency  but  one  of 
lovers  embracing  on  sea-shore,  which  I  did  not  like  at  all. 
...  It  is  a  pity  you  have  not  seen  the  Exhibition  of  R.A. 
this  year,  Hunt's  "  Scapegoat "  is  wonderful,  some  of 
Millais  are  exceedingly  good  in  colour,  one  of  them,  the 
"  Blind  Girl  "  is  good  in  expression  likewise.  Hunt  has 
not  sold  his  picture  and  is  not  likely  to  now  for  a  long 
time.  .  .  .  Ruskin  has  been  cutting  it  up  and  praised 
some  of  the  worst  pictures  in  the  place ;  he  has  made  such 
an  obvious  mess  of  it  this  year  that  his  enemies  are  dancing 
for  delight.  Hunt  says  as  he  has  no  wife  and  youngsters 
he  cares  very  little  for  it.  ...  I  should  like  Ruskin  to 
know  what  he  never  knew — the  want  of  money  for  a  year 
or  two ;  then  he  might  come  to  doubt  his  infallibility  and 
give  an  artist  working  on  the  right  road  the  benefit  of  any 
little  doubt  that  might  arise.  The  little  despot  imagines 
himself  the  Pope  of  Art  and  would  wear  3  crowns  as  a 
right,  only  they  would  make  him  look  funny  in  London  ! 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

June  10,  1856. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  know  you  take  so  kind  an  interest  in  us  that  you 
will  be  glad  to  hear  we  are  here  at  last  in  our  home  for 
life,  I  hope.  I  know  we  have  your  good  wishes  for  all  good 
to  us  in  it.  I  am  as  you  may  suppose  a  good  deal  knocked 
up  but  I  write  now  partly  because  I  am  not  sure  whether 
you  are  waiting  to  hear  from  me,  before  you  fulfil  your 
kind  promise  of  sending  the  medallion. 

Alfred  has  nobly  stood  out  all  the  bustle  and  bother 
of  the  removal,  helping  to  unpack  and  himself  to  place 
the  things.  The  boys  are  charmed  at  getting  back. 
Hallam  said  "may  I  stay?"     He  still  retains  so  much 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  115 

recollection  of  you  that  he  persists  in  calling   a  stranger 
kind  to  him,  Mr.  Woolner. 

Alfred  does  not  know  I  am  writing  or  he  would  send 
kind  messages.  Be  of  good  cheer  the  bad  days  are,  I  hope, 
behind  you.  The  night  behind  and  only  the  day  before 
you. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

July  24,  1856. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

...  I  w^as  at  the  Brownings  last  night;  I  took 
them  a  cast  of  Mr.  Ten.'s  med  :  they  were  immensely 
pleased — meant  to  have  it  framed  and  carry  it  about  with 
them  wherever  they  went.  Browning  said  no  likeness 
could  possibly  be  better.  I  have  improved  it  since  you 
saw  the  photograph — it  was  upon  your  hint  that  it  "  looked 
scornful  tho'  very  grand  :  "  I  w^atched  his  face  and  now 
have  put  a  slight  touch  of  sweetness  which  I  think  is  of 
golden  value,  and  now  I  consider  it  the  very  best  med  : 
I  have  done.  I  have  a  cast  for  you  when  you  please  to 
claim  it — perhaps  you  will  let  me  know  about  when  you 
mean  to  settle  again.     My  love  to  pets  and  their  father. 

Yours  truly, 

T.  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road, 

August  16  [1856]. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

...  I  have  been  busy  at  work  upon  a  med  :  of 
Robert  Browning  and  have  made  it  so  like  folks  make  a 
great  fuss  who  have  seen,  his  wife  seems  not  to  know 
how  to  express  enough  praise.  ...  I  am  very  glad  Brown- 
ing is  pleased  for  I  have  a  great  admiration  for  his  books 
except  one,  and  his  character  I  think  noble  and  chivalric 
to  the  highest  degree.  The  statue  of  Bacon  is  for  the 
New  Museum  Oxford ;  but  it  is  not  a  thing  I  can  well  be 
congratulated  upon,  for  2  or  3  more  such  commissions 
would  lodge  me  in  prison  for  debt.  ...  I  am  anxious  to 


116  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

know  how  the  Arthur  poems  progress  ?  I  hope  they  will 
not  be  long  before  they  leap  forth  into  light — Mrs.  Browning 
has  just  begun  sending  to  Press  a  poem  11,000  lines  long  ! 
Carlyle  sent  Patmore  a  letter  praising  the  Espousals  up 
to  the  skies.  I  saw  one  of  Rossetti's  designs  for  the  book  ^ 
— most  lovely.  .  .  . 

Yours  truly, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

1  Poems  by  Alfred  Tennyson,  illustrated,  1857. 


CHAPTER  V 

Sir  John  Simeon  to  T.  Woolner 

Swainston, 

Isle  of  Wight, 

September  10  [1856]. 

My  dear  Sir, 

I  am  just  returned  home  after  a  short  absence, 
and  find  on  my  arrival  your  most  valued  and  acceptable 
gift.  I  really  have  not  words  to  tell  you  how  fine  I  think 
the  medallion,^  and  how  admirable  I  consider  the  likeness. 
Your  kindness  is  not,  I  assure  you,  thrown  away,  for  the 
likeness  of  our  incomparable  friend  which  I  owe  to  you, 
will  be  to  me  a  constant  source  of  deep  and  daily  pleasure. 
.  .  .  Believe  me  always. 

Yours  most  truly, 

John  Simeon. 
T.  WooLNER,  Esq. 


James  Spedding  to  T.  Woolner 

60  L.I.F., 

Saturday,  September  [1856]. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  hoped  to  call  on  you  this  afternoon,  but  I  am 
overwhelmed  with  proof-sheets.  Your  medallion  of  the 
Laureate  is  magnificent,  and  puts  all  competitors  out  of 
the  field.  Am  I  to  understand  that  it  is  mine  to  keep — 
or  only  to  admire  for  a  while? 

Yrs.  in  a  hurry, 

J  AS.  Spedding. 

^  Medallion  of  Alfred  Tennyson. 
117 


118  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

William  Allingham  to  T.  Woolner 

Lane  Ballysliannon, 

September  4,  1856. 

Dear  Woolner, 

.  .  .  Emerson's  English  Traits  (which  I  am  just  writing 
for)  is  to  me  the  Uterary  event  of  the  year.  I  respect 
America  on  account  of  that  one  just  man. 

It's  comically  disgusting  to  see  the  Athenceum's  enumera- 
tion of  distinguished  American  writers,  Irving,  Bancroft, 
Prescott,  Hawthorn,  Longfellow,  habitually  ignoring  (a 
good  word  here)  Emerson.  What  eloquence  his  is  ! 
Sweeter  than  honey,  more  cordial  than  wine.  I  wish  you 
would  tell  me  some  news,  however  curtly,  of  yourself, 
and  the  rest.  I  hear  from  nobody  almost.  Have  you 
been  with  Browning?     Where  is  he? 

Ever  yours, 

W.  Allingham. 


T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Emily  Patmore 

WaUington, 

near  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 

September  14  [1856]. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Patmore, 

The  above  address  will  explain  why  you  received 
no  answer  to  your  kind  note  of  the  8th.  I  left  London 
last  Sunday  early  by  steamer  for  Newcastle,  arrived 
there  on  Monday  night,  arrived  here  Wednesday  morning. 
The  Trevelyans  are  charming  persons.  Sir  Walter  a 
grave  dignified  man;  very  kind  and  hospitable,  and  of 
wide  experience  in  all  scientific  matters  and  general 
knowledge.  Lady  Trevelyan  is  full  of  life  and  splendid 
geniality.  I  could  almost  agree  in  Scott's  extravagant 
praise,  that  she  was  "  the  best  woman  in  the  whole  world." 
Such  a  place  !  such  copses  and  woods  and  bullrushy 
ponds  with  water-hens,  etc.  Such  gardens  with  old  rich 
brick  walls  encrusted  with  romance  and  peach  trees  and 
apple  trees — one  76  feet  from  tip  to  tip.  O,  such  a  place 
to  luxuriate  in  !  I  should  have  called  to  see  you  before 
I  started  but  was  working  till  the  last  hour.  I  am  so 
indolent  I  can  scarce  bring  myself  to  spare  time  to  write 
even  if  I  had  anything  to  say.  I  had  a  letter  from  Sir 
J.    Simeon — in    a   most   delighted    state    about    my   new 


T.  VV. 
THE    SCULPTOR    AMONG    HIS    MEN 


[To  face  page  119. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  119 

medallion  of  Apollo,  saj^s  it  will  be  a  "  constant  source  of 
deep  and  daily  pleasure,"  had  a  letter  from  J.  Spedding 
who  says  it  is  "  magnificent  and  puts  all  competition  out 
of  the  field."  From  him,  this  is  praise  immense  and  I 
feel  a  sort  of  tingling  pleasure  as  I  think  of  it,  for  I  have 
a  sincere  admiration  for  Spedding. 
Excuse  this  silly  gossip. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

I  expect  to  start  for  Edinburgh  in  a  few  days.     I  yearn 
to  see  a  picturesque  city. 


T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Emily  Patmore 

Wallington, 

near  N ewcastle-on-Tyne, 

[September  1856]. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Patmore, 

...  I  should  have  been  delighted  to  meet  the 
magnates  you  mention,  but  you  see  my  reason  for  not 
doing  so  in  the  above  address. 

I  stay  here  till  Monday  when  Munro  and  I  start  for 
Jedburgh  on  foot,  thence  rail  to  Edinburgh.  The  country 
about  the  border  is  I  hear  fine  in  the  extreme,  and  they 
say  it  would  be  cruel  to  miss  it.  I  had  an  immense  treat 
yesterday.  Sir  Walter  took  Munro  and  me  to  see  Sir 
John  Swinburne's  Turner  drawings  :  they  are  some  of 
the  most  marvellous  art  I  ever  saw — infinite  in  beauty 
and  interest,  a  chapter  might  be  written  upon  each.  They 
are  not  mounted  under  glass  but  in  a  folio  and  Miss  Swin- 
burne always  carries  them  with  her  when  she  travels. 
Old  Sir  John  is  as  fine  a  picture  as  any  drawing,  rather 
more  so,  the  old  boy  is  96,  and  as  cheerful  as  any  man 
half  that  age ;  and  takes  as  much  interest  in  all  that  goes 
on — a  handsome  looking  old  fellow.  I  should  not  have 
said  so  much  of  him  only  that  he  has  been  a  great  en- 
courager  of  art  in  his  day  and  therefore  entitled  to  my 
little  homage.  What  a  wonderful  country  this  !  !  !  I 
can  scarcely  persuade  myself  to  leave  it;  and  if  possible 
the  people  are  nicer  than  the  glorious  country.  I  had 
heard  wonderful  accounts  of  them  and  find  my  fancy 
had  not  over-colored  them  in  any  way  and  that  I  had  not 
believed  in  a  thousandth  part  of  their  worth.     I  expect 


120  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

to  be  in  London  in  a  fortnight  or  thereabouts.     My  kind 
regards  to  Mr.  Patmore. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Vernon  Lushington  ^  to  T.  Woolner 

Ochham  Park, 

Ripley,  Surrey, 

October  2,  1856. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  have  got  my  father's  consent  for  you  to  take  a 
medalHon  of  him  for  me.  He  is  at  hberty,  I  beheve  all 
this  month,  but  would  much  prefer  your  coming  soon. — 
Now  can  you  come?  and  if  so,  when?  Write  please  by 
return  of  post  and  tell  me.  Do  not  settle  about  the  21st, 
because  my  father  has  to  be  at  Bath  on  that  day,  to  make 
some  utterance  in  the  Denison  case;  and  I  think  the 
earlier  you  choose  the  better,  so  as  to  get  it  over  and  out 
of  his  mind.  Suppose  we  say,  Monday  in  next  week,  and 
stay  as  long  as  you  like.  Of  course  I  shall  be  here  to  keep 
you  company. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Vernon  Lushington. 

Robert  Browning  to  T.  Woolner 

3,  Parade, 

West  Cowes, 

October  1856. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

Your  kind  &  pleasant  note  has  just  reached  me  : 
our  stay  here  ends  on  Monday;  hence  we  proceed  for 
(perhaps)  a  week  to  Taunton;  and  the  remaining  fort- 
night— the  autumn — half  of  October  we  shall  pass  at 
Devonshire  Place.  Who  knows  but  you  may  return 
before  we  set  out  for  Italy  again  ?  You  make  it  seem  a 
long  journey  now — taking  us  as  it  does,  from  such  kind 
faces,  and  admirable  right  hands.  The  first  thing  I  shall 
do,  will  be  to  write  to  Rossetti.  In  any  case,  believe  I 
carry  away  memories  I  run  no  risk  of  losing  in  another 
year's  absence — if  it  is  to  be  that,  and  no  longer.     And 

1  Vernon  Lushington  was  an  early  friend  of  Woolner's,  some  years  his 
junior,  and  he  was  a  generous  and  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  Sculptor. 
Through  the  young  barrister  Woolner  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  the. 
Kt.  Hon.  Stephen  Lushington  and  his  family. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  121 

my  wife,  (here,  correcting  proofs  at  my  elbow)  bids  me 
thank  you  as  heartily,  and  promise  for  her  to  remember 
us  entirely.     You  must  know  how  we  shall  watch  your 

ways,  that  have  begun  so On  the  whole,  I  hope  to  see 

you  before  we  go  :  if  that  may  not  be,  send  the  cast  w^hen 
you  please — and  have  the  goodness  not  to  forget  my  com- 
mission of  the  frames- — which  the  maker  can  leave.  And 
you  shall  have  one  good-bye  word  from 

Yours  faithfully  ever, 

Robert  Browning. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

October  13  [1856]. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

Moxon  has  arranged  with  the  engraver  to  do  the  plate 
from  the  new  medallion  ^  entirely,  and  he  has  promised 
Moxon  to  get  it  done  very  quickly  in  consideration  of  the 
importance  of  doing  so.  I  saw  one  of  the  engravings  of 
Rossetti's  design  for  "  Mariana  "  and  think  it  perfectly 
lovely.  I  know  you  wdll  be  charmed  with  it.  Saw  another 
of  Millais'  on  the  block — as  good  as  possible — some  of 
Hunt's  are  remarkably  fine,  two  most  splendid,  one  was 
badly  cut  I  fancy. 

Browning  goes  in  a  few  days  to  Florence  already  his 
wife  suffers  from  the  vile  w^eather  and  has  a  severe  hollow 
cough  most  distressing  to  her. 

•  ••••• 

I  hope  your  little  boys  are  well. 

Ever  truly, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road, 

November  6,  1856. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

•  «•••• 

I  hear  that  Millais  has  done  a  most  wonderful  design 
from  the  Lord  of  Burleigh  which  is  being  cut  in  the  wood  : 

1  The  medallion  of  Alfred  Tennyson   The  frontispiece  to  the  Illustrated 
Edition  of  Tennyson's  Poems. 


122  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

a  friend  of  mine — a  good  judge,  says  it  is  finer  than  any 
design  he  has  ever  done  before.  Moxon  complains  loudly 
that  he  cannot  get  the  blocks  from  Rossetti. 

I  have  finished  my  medallion  of  Dr.  Lushington  which 
gives  great  satisfaction  to  the  family.  They  are  most 
delightful  persons  and  I  enjoyed  my  visit  to  them  very 
much;  Vernon,  my  friend,  is  one  of  the  kindest  and 
nicest  fellows  living  I  think. 

I  do  not  get  on  fast  with  my  marble  bust  but  have 
now  commenced  working  on  it  again,  and  if  I  escape 
interruptions  expect  to  get  it  in  little  over  a  month  finished. 

I  suppose  you  know  that  Browning  is  gone  to  Florence 
again  :  which  I  am  sorry  for,  as  he  is  a  first  rate  man 
and  most  delightful  companion  :  I  know  a  great  many 
men  of  one  kind  and  another  but  only  a  few  that  I  really 
and  thoroughly  like  and  he  is  one  of  my  favourites — you 
may  quite  depend  that  he  means  any  thing  he  says — 
what  does  not  frequently  happen  to  one  I  am  sorry  to  say. 

I  hope  you  will  hear  of  some  place  to  suit  you  among 
those  delightful  Lakes  for  your  ""  change  of  air "  next 
year.  I  always  look  back  upon  Coniston  with  a  satisfied 
poetic  love,  for  the  happy  week  I  spent  there,  now  more 
than  6  years  ago.  I  think  it  the  happiest  week  I  ever 
spent,  it  gladdens  me  even  at  this  time  and  will  I  think 
so  long  as  I  live. 

I  was  rejoiced  to  hear  from  Moxon  that  the  poem 
"  Courage  poor  heart  of  Stone  "  was  to  be  put  into  the 
next  edition  of  Maud  :  I  think  that  of  immense  import- 
ance in  bridging  over  what  lies  between  the  sadness  and 
the  madness. 

•  •  •  •  V  • 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

November  11,  1856. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

The  beautiful  boxful  has  arrived  quite  safely 
to-day.  Accept  our  best  thanks.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Mann 
are  here  and  are  delighted  as  well  as  A.  and  myself  with 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  123 

the  delicate  yet  lofty  beauty  of  the  medallion  and  with 
the  grandeur  of  the  bust. 

Sir  John  Simeon  was  so  pleased  with  his  medallion  and 
not  less  with  the  maker  thereof  if  I  may  be  permitted  to 
say  so.  Your  facts  of  Natural  History  seem  to  have  had 
a  great  charm  for  him. 

Our  boys  are  well.  I  wish  you  could  see  them.  I  am 
so  pleased  the  medallion  and  the  bust  are  such  great 
successes.  The  bust  is  A.'s  favourite  and  mine  also  I 
think.  The  medallion  strikes  the  Manns  most  at 
first. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 
Hampstead  Road, 

November  25,  1856. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

•  ••••• 

I  am  glad  to  have  seen  Lady  Franklin,  I  shall  never 
forget  the  unutterable  sadness  of  that  face.  What  did 
you  think  of  the  miniature  poet  Read?  Allingham  said 
you  might  put  him  in  a  snuff  box  then  into  a  waistcoat 
pocket.  ...  I  do  not  know  when  I  can  give  myself  the 
treat  of  coming  to  Farringford  :  my  work  takes  me  so 
long.  ...  I  have  worked  3  wrecks  upon  the  face  of  my 
bust  and  think  it  will  take  me  a  month  longer  to  finish 
the  entire  bust.  .  .  .  After  this  is  done  I  must  finish 
Bacon. ^  ...  I  have  not  seen  Vernon  Lushington  yet 
but  ...  I  know  there  is  nothing  could  possibly  delight 
him  so  much  as  to  visit  you.  ...  I  have  been  very  much 
pleased  with  Mrs.  Browning's  book.  There  are  a  few 
things  I  do  not  think  to  be  true,  but  when  a  work  con- 
tains so  much  of  good  I  feel  it  almost  ungrateful  to  find 
out  faults. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

^  Dr.  Acland  of  Oxford  wrote  of  this  work  :  "  Bacon  is  the  best  statue — 
and  it  shall  have  on  every  account  the  best  place." 


124  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

December  [1856]. 

[He  thought  very  highly  of  "  Aurora  Leigh,"  and  writes 
about  the  poem  thus — ] 

I  am  heartily  glad  that  you  are  pleased  with  "  Aurora 
Leigh,"  I  felt  sure  you  would.  Mrs.  Browning  distinctly 
meant  it  for  a  novel  written  in  metre.  I  imagine  she  had 
a  great  deal  to  say,  more  than  she  could  speak  in  finished 
poetry,  and  as  verse  was  to  her  far  more  natural  than 
prose,  she  adopted  the  most  fluent  way  of  expressing 
herself.  I  think  she  makes  a  little  too  much  of  the  social 
questions,  making  it  too  pamphletty — ^the  same  thing  is 
illustrated  in  too  many  ways,  making  the  book  unneces- 
sarily long.  ...  I  could  go  on  writing  a  long  time  now 
in  admiration,  for  save  a  few  things  such  I  have  men- 
tioned, I  do  thoroughly  admire  it  —  the  wholesome 
aspiration  that  uplifts  and  illuminates  the  whole.  I 
long  to  write  and  tell  her  how  much  I  have  enjoyed  the 
reading  of  it,  but  I  can  find  no  time  for  these  luxuries. 

William  Bell  Scott  to  T.  Woolner 

Newcasthy 

December  4,  1856. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

Your  Browning  came  all  right  a  day  or  two  ago. 
Many  thanks  for  it.  .  .  .  The  medallion  is  a  splendid 
piece  of  work,  quite  equal  to  Carlisle  [Carlyle]  I  think, 
but  what  a  different  subject  you  have  had  to  handle.  .  .  . 
Some  men's  works  rise  in  one's  estimation  infinitely  after 
knowing  the  authors,  and  in  all  cases  the  peculiarities  and 
characteristics  receive  great  additional  interest.  But  the 
connection  between  Browning's  face  and  his  works  seems 
to  me  as  little  understandable  as  well  can  be.  Of  course 
his  conversation  would  connect  the  two  immediately  but 
his  head  is  I  think  the  most  unprepossessing  poet's  head 
it  is  well  possible  to  imagine.  Both  the  Brownings  are 
certainly  greatly  and  profoundly  endowed,  the  first  things 
of  Mrs.  B.'s  I  recollect  quite  carried  me  away,  but  his 
last  volumes  contain  more  wonderful  lights  than  any 
books  I  know.  Her  new  poem  I  have  not  yet  read,  but 
I  have  the  notices  in  the  Spectator  &  Athenceum.  ,  ,  . 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  125 

Your  long  silence  was  too  bad,  if  I  had  not  heard  of  you, 
I  should  have  feared  you  were  not  well.  .  .  .  My  picture 
is  finished,  and  so  far  pleases  myself,  if  it  confirms  the 
confidence  the  Trevelyans  have  in  my  handywork  the 
next  will  be  begun  with  tremendous  pleasure.  .  .  . 

Believe  me. 

My  dear  Woolner, 
Yours, 

William  B.  Scott. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringfordy 

December  16,  1856. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  know  how  much  you  care  for  the  Brownings  so 
I  am  going  to  tell  you  the  good  news  we  heard  from  Sir 
John  Simeon  yesterday,  that  Mr.  Kenyon  has  left  them 
a  good  deal  of  money.  If  this  bring  them  to  live  some- 
times in  the  Isle  of  Wight  will  it  not  be  delightful  !  Many 
a  happy  meeting  may  you  have  with  them  at  Farringford. 

A.  has  taken   to    rolling  the  lawn.     I  must  go  out  to 
him.     The  bairns  are  well. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road, 

December  17,  1856. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  am  sure  there  never  was  one  in  the  whole  world 
kinder  than  you,  every  letter  you  send  me  is  a  fresh 
proof.  .  .  .  That  is  fine  fun  you  write  of — the  Brownings 
having  plenty  of  money  left  them.  I  do  not  care  much 
about  it  tho' ;  for  they  are  very  well  circumstanced  in 
these  matters  I  believe.  ...  If  I  heard  that  poor  Mrs. 
Browning  had  recovered  her  strength  enough  to  enable 
her  to  dwell  in  England,  that  indeed  would  delight  me  : 
for  at  present  you  know  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  her  to 
endure  an  English  winter.  All  the  best  ladies  I  know  are 
delicate :  Mrs.  Carlyle  has  been  ill  a  long  time ;  she 
scarcely  sees  any  one  and  cannot  get  out  and  she  looks 


126  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

dreadfully  weak,  it  grieves  me  to  look  at  her.  Sir  Walter 
and  Lady  Trevelyan  are  in  town,  but  my  pleasure  has 
been  shadowed  in  consequence  of  the  same  thing;  she  is 
so  weak  and  delicate.  .  .  .  They  are  both  of  the  best  I 
ever  knew,  and  I  cannot  say  which  is  most  to  be  admired. 
I  wish  you  knew  them,  for  I  feel  certain  that  you  would 
thoroughly  love  Lady  Trevelyan  :  .  .  .  One  thing  I  know 
you  would  like,  she  really  worships  your  great  lord,  and 
what  I  admire  in  her,  she  has  breadth  to  take  in  Browning 
also; — for  I  seldom  find  one  who  fervently  admires  both; 
an  admirer  of  one  generally  thinks  it  to  be  his  duty  to 
pitch  vigorously  into  the  other.  Browning  told  me  he 
often  found  men  trying  to  make  friends  with  him  by 
picking  holes  in  Tennyson  :  he  said  :  "  If  a  man  want  to 
make  a  friend  of  me,  he  cannot  begin  a  plan  more  fatal 
to  his  hopes  than  by  finding  fault  with  him :  for  I 
thoroughly  admire  everything  he  has  written,  and  for  a 
man  to  find  fault  with  that,  is  finding  fault  with  my  own 
taste  and  judgment."  That  is  how  I  like  to  hear  a  man 
talk. 

Since  I  wrote  the  above  I  have  been  to  spend  an  hour 
or  two  with  the  Trevelyans.  .  .  .  They  have  the  greatest 
interest  in  my  artistic  well  being  and  seem  to  like  my 
things  extremely  :  in  fact  so  much  that  I  expect  some 
day  they  will  give  me  an  order  to  make  something  for 
their  grand  hall  at  Wallington,  for  they  have  been  asking 
me  if  I  could  suggest  any  appropriate  subject,  what  size 
I  thought  figures  ought  to  be,  &c.  It  is  late  and  I  will 
finish  another  time — w^ill  smoke  one  pipe,  then  put  up  the 
shutters. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

My  love  to  your  sweet  little  boys  and  their  illustrious 
sire. 

Ever  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


W.  B.  Scott  to  T.  Woolner 

Newcastle, 

December  22,  1856. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  have  just  learned  by  a  letter  from  Lady  Trevelyan 
that  you  are  to  do  something  for  the  centre  of  the  hall — 
you  are  to  put  the  finishing  crown  upon  the  work — the 


f 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  127 

j oiliest  piece  of  news  I  have  heard  for  a  long  time.^  .  .  . 
I  write  now  to  tell  you  I  have  sent  off  the  box  to-day 
with  a  picture  inside  which  you  will  I  hope  like  in  some 
degree.  It  is  an  old  thing  of  mine  but  has  always  been 
a  favourite  of  my  own.  It  is  the  Burgher  watch  on  an 
old  stone  wall,  with  the  least  faint  glimmer  of  evening.  .  .  . 
We  are  now  reading  "  Aurora  Leigh."  You  say  there  is 
in  it  the  finest  writing  Mrs.  Browning  has  ever  done.  I 
quite  agree  with  you  it  is  superb  in  writing,  and  makes 
other  poets  seem  parched  and  poor,  but  after  all  it  is  a 
novel  in  verse,  another  Jane  Eyre.  .  .  . 

Yours  most  truly, 

W.  B.  Scott. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

December  24,  1856. 
Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

This  is  Christmas  Eve  and  the  first  in  our  own 
house.  It  is  saddened  by  Lionel's  being  ill  as  he  was 
when  you  were  here  nearly  two  years  ago.  He  was 
recovering  then.  He  has  been  very  unw^ell  since  Fridaj^ 
last,  and  this  is  why  I  have  not  been  able  to  answer  your 
kind  note  before. 

I  am  so  glad  you  have  made  such  good  and  pleasant 
friends  as  the  Trevelyans.  Next  time  they  want  change 
of  air  and  may  this  be  long  if  they  only  want  it  for  health's 
sake !  but  when  next  they  do  want  it,  recommend 
Freshwater. 

I  hope  you  are  having  a  merry  Christmas,  and  that  a 
happy  New  Year  is  coming  for  you. 

I  thought  the  Brownings  had  been  poor  or  I  should 
not  so  much  have  rejoiced  over  their  acquisition  of  money. 
I  think  it  is  a  bad  thing  to  get  into  the  habit  of  over- 
prizing wealth,  whether  for  one's  self  or  others,  and  it 
seems  an  overprizing  to  desire  more  than  food  and  raiment 
and  Farringford.  .  .  . 

[No  signature.] 

^  It  was  W.  B.  Scott  who  induced  Woolner  to  visit  Sir  Walter  and 
Lady  Trevelyan;  and  he  generously  rejoices  that  they  have  given  his 
friend  a  commission.  Lady  Trevelyan  had  written  to  ask  Woolner  to 
stay  with  them,  and  Scott's  representations  settled  the  matter,  and  a 
happy  and  long  friendsliip  was  the  result. 


128  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

T.  WOOLNER  TO    MeS.    TeNNYSON 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.W., 

December  30,  1856. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  nothing  of  any  importance  to  tell  as  I  go  out 
but  little,  except  to  break  up  my  evenings  at  parties 
where  I  spend  my  time  wishing  myself  at  home  and  doing 
things  that  need  doing.  Gabriel  Rossetti  a  few  evenings 
ago  showed  me  two  fresh  designs  he  had  done  on  the 
wood,  one  was  St.  Cecilia  who  was  just  dead,  fallen  back 
into  the  arms  of  an  angel  :  the  angel's  expression  was 
remarkable  for  the  vivid  spiritual  light  that  shone  thro' 
his  face;  I  do  not  know  if  it  will  be  possible  for  the 
engraver  to  render  this,  but  if  so,  Rossetti  may  think 
himself  fortunate  :  the  background  is  a  most  elaborate 
piece  of  work.  The  other  is  a  design  of  the  7  queens 
placing  King  Arthur  in  the  barge  and  is  an  interesting 
thing. 

Probably  you  have  heard  or  read  of  the  death  of  Thomas 
Seddon  a  friend  of  all  our  set  :  he  was  with  Hunt  in  the 
Holy  Land.     He  died  at  Cairo. 

•  •  «  •  .  • 

With  kindest  wishes. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


James  Spedding  to  T.  Woolner 

60  L.  I.  F.  {W.C.), 
February  6,  1857. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

Could  you  by  accident  breakfast  with  me  next 
Sunday  at  10?  Nobody  will  be  with  me  except  Froude, 
the  historian  (whom  by  the  way  you  might  like  to  see) 
but  I  want  to  speak  to  you  about  a  matter  in  which  you 
will  take  an  interest.  We  have  got  leave  from  Lord 
Verulam  to  have  an  engraving  of  the  boy-bust  of  Bacon 
for  one  of  our  volumes.  F.  Holl  is  to  engrave  it ;  but  how 
will  it  be  best  to  get  a  copy  made  for  him  to  engrave 
from?  Drawing  from  the  round  is  out  of  his  ordinary 
line,  and  would  take  too  much  time;  and  he  did  not 
seem  to  know  anybody  whom  he  could  confidently  recom- 
mend to  do  it.     Do  you  ever  do  such  things  yourself? 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  129 

If  not,  you  must  at  least  know  of  somebody  who  could  be 
trusted  to  make  a  faithful  drawing.  If  you  cannot  come 
to  breakfast  on  Sunday  let  me  know  when  I  shall  find  you 
at  your  studio. 

Yrs  very  Truly, 

J  AS.  Spedding. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.  W., 

February  11,  1857. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

Mr.  Jenner  called  with  his  brother  ^  Dr.  Jenner  upon 
me  a  week  or  two  ago,  and  was  perfectly  entranced  with 
my  bust,  did  not  seem  as  if  he  could  tear  himself  from  it. 
Talk  of  hero-worship  !  I  think  that  I  never  saw  anything 
like  it  before.  Told  me  he  thought  "  In  Memoriam  "  the 
highest  revelation  that  we  ever  had  for  guidance,  and  the 
more  the  English  nation  came  to  that  view  the  greater  it 
would  become.  And  he  talked  with  me  a  long  time  show- 
ing himself  to  great  advantage  in  these  high  matters. 
He  does  not  look  the  least  like  a  tradesman,  but  something 
between  a  great  city  merchant  and  a  country  gentleman. 

I  met  Mr.  Froude  at  James  Spedding' s  on  Sunday 
morning  where  I  went  to  meet  him  at  breakfast.  He  is 
a  handsome,  clever  quiet  looking  man,  with  a  musical 
voice.     I  was  a  good  deal  impressed  with  him. 

At  a  party  on  Monday  evening  I  was  introduced  to 
Lord  Byron's  grand-daughter.  Lady  Annabella  King,^  as 
the  "real  maker  of  the  wonderful  bust";  many  years 
ago,  when  she  was  a  child  I  gave  her  some  lessons  in 
modelling  and  she  remembered  me  in  a  moment  and 
said  that  she  had  been  wondering  who  I  was  all  the 
evening,  and  whether  I  could  be  the  same  person  she 
had  known;  also  she  said  "  Altho'  I  never  heard  them 
mention  your  name,  yet  when  they  were  talking  of  this 
bust  I  felt  a  presentiment  that  it  must  be  of  you  they 

^  Afterwards  Sir  William  Jenner. 

^  Lady  Annabella  King  was  not  the  only  young  lady  Woolner  helped 
with  her  modelling.  ]\liss  Bonham-Carter  modelled  her  statuette  of 
IVIiss  Florence  Nightingale  with  the  Lamp  under  his  supervision  and 
guidance,  and  he  also  taught  JMiss  Alice  Helps,  daughter  of  Sir  Arthur 
Helps,  in  later  days. 
K 


130  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

were  talking."  Of  course  I  am  bound  to  consider  this 
very  compliraentary  coming  from  such  an  illustrious 
young  lady.  But  seriously,  the  enthusiasm  this  bust 
creates  is  something  extraordinary,  most  of  which  I 
attribute  to  the  subject,  tho'  doing  so  is  not  so  flattering 
to  myself. 

With  kindest  regards. 
Very  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

February  13,  1857. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

It  was  very  pleasant  to  get  your  note  enclosing  the 
other.  ...  I  am  delighted  about  the  bust,^  and  I  do  hope 
it  will  hold  so  many  thousands  ^  in  its  hands,  that  the  one 
poor  little  Australian  thousand  will  have  no  chance  of 
tempting  you  back  across  the  great  ocean. 

Forgive  these  stupid  lines  but  I  was  so  glad  to  hear 
some  faint  echo  of  the  praise  that  comes  to  you.  I  could 
not  forbear  writing  by  return  of  post  to  tell  you  so. 

•  ••••• 

Ever  most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 


T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N,W., 

March  8,  1857. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  only  a  few  minutes  just  to  tell  you  that  my 
bust  is  finished,  and  send  you  a  card  or  two,  thinking  you 
might  know  some  who  would  like  to  see  it.  ...  I  expect 
a  good  many  next  week,  or  this  week  perhaps  I  should 
call  it;  Ruskin  came  yesterday  and  was  more  pleased 
than  any  one,  since  Millais  saw  it,  has  been  :  he  said  that 
he  was  "  very  glad  to  know  that  such  a  thing  could  be 
done "  and  he  shook  my  hand  violently  several  times 
congratulating  me  on  my  "  great  success  "   as  he  called 

^  Tennyson. 

2  Woolner  had  received  an  invitation  to  return  to  Australia  and  promised 
work  to  the  amount  of  one  thousand. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  131 

it,  and  when  he  was  going  away  said,  "  I  consider  that 
bust  to  be  a  triumph  of  Art."  Now  if  he  would  say  this 
in  print  it  would  make  my  fortune,  but  unhappily  it  quite 
hurts  his  feelings  to  have  to  praise  anything  without 
colour. 

•  ••••• 

Very  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

W.  B.  Scott  to  T.  Woolner 

Newcastle^ 

March  8,  1857. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

Last  time  I  wrote  you  I  quite  forgot  the  little 
picture  of  the  Harvest  moon,  and  now  will  you  have  the 
kindness  to  send  it  in  to  the  Academy  on  reception  day  ? 
...  It  appears  the  sculpture  room  is  to  be  reformed — 
are  you  going  to  try  your  luck  again  with  something? 
From  all  I  hear  your  bust  of  Tennyson  must  be  about 
completion.  Everybody  says  great  things  of  it.  That 
being  done  and  your  monumental  philosopher,  you  will 
be  thinking  of  the  centre  of  the  saloon  at  Wallington. 
Do  you  recollect  the  scheme  of  the  pictorial  part  ?  Four 
pictures  on  each  of  the  two  sides  ...  all  Northumbrian 
subjects.  .  .  .  You  may  be  sure  we  in  these  northern 
regions  are  looking  forward  with  tremendous  interest  to 
your  design.  .  .  .  Will  you  thank  D.  G.  R.  for  me  on  the 
receipt  of  the  numbers  of  the  Magazine.  His  "  burden  of 
Nineveh  "  comes  home  to  me,  it  is  the  right  stuff. 

Yours, 

W.  B.  Scott. 


T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.  W., 

March  16  [1857  ?]. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

•  ••••• 

I  have  been  awaiting  a  satisfactory  answer  from 
V.  Lushington.  ...  I  know  you  will  like  him  greatly 
for  he  is  one  of  the  dearest  fellows  living.  .  .  .  Mrs.  and 
Mr.  Weld  came  to-day  and  liked  my  bust  ^  very  much. 

^  The  beardless  bust  of  Tennyson. 


132  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Mrs.  and  Mr.  Maurice  ditto.  Mr.  M.  said  it  ought  to  be 
in  the  new  National  Portrait  Gallery  for  said  he,  "  if  they 
do  not  have  him  who  will  they  have  ?  "  Of  all  the  persons 
who  have  been  to  see  it  I  fancy  Carlyle  was  the  most 
delighted — said  it  was  a  thorough  success,  absolutely 
perfect,  &c. — and  made  a  great  fuss.  .  .  . 

Very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

March  18,  1857. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Our  best  thanks  for  the  reviews.  I  cannot  tell 
you  how  glad  we  are  that  the  bust  should  be  recognised 
not  unworthily.  Surely  this  is  the  beginning  of  a  happier 
day  for  you. 

I  quite  agree  with  what  you  say  about  big  parties  and 
my  own  private  belief  is,  that  it  is  not  thus  people  get 
known  in  a  way  in  which  those  worthy  of  being  known 
care  to  be  known.  I  must  not  say  more  to-day  than  our 
kindest  regards  and  best  wishes. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

I  wish  the  public  could  compel  A.  by  Act  of  Parliament 
to  cut  oii  his  beard  !  We  had  the  Simeons  and  Camerons 
here  last  night.  I  wished  you  could  have  met  them.  On 
Monday  they  assembled  here  also  to  keep  Lionel's  birthday, 
three  years  old. 

D.  G.  RossETTi  TO  T.  Woolner 

Friday,  March  27,  1857. 

Dear  Woolner, 

I  shall  be  looking  you  up  for  a  jaw,  when  we  can  settle 
some  matters,  I  want  to  introduce  you  to  Linton  the 
engraver  who  would  like  to  know  you,  and  has  a  project 
for  an  illustrated  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Browning  ^  to  be  done 
solely  by  ourselves  &  under  our  control.     You   ought  to 

^  This  project  was  never  carried  out. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  133 

join,  with  portraits  certainly  &  I  think  with  design  too. 
Ought  you  not?  The  affair  had  better  not  be  spoken  of 
to  any  one  yet,  except  Hunt  if  you  should  see  him — 
indeed  no  one  I  think  till  Linton  has  spoken  to  Chapman 
&  Hall. 

Your 

D.  G.  R. 
I  only  got  your  note  last  night. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.W., 

April  28,  1857. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

Many  thanks  for  several  kind  little  notes  telegraph- 
ing the  great  man's  movements  :  I  am  glad  that  he  has 
come  to  this  part  of  the  kingdom  for  I  have  no  doubt 
the  change  will  be  of  service. 

•  ••••• 

I  was  grieved  to  hear  the  death  of  Mr.  Barrett,  not  on 
the  old  gentleman's  account  but  because  I  know  the 
distress  it  vnll  occasion  to  poor  Mrs.  Browning,  who  quite 
worshipped  the  old  man  however  unworthy  of  it  he  was. 
He  never  would  be  reconciled  to  her  after  her  marriage, 
but  adopted  the  somewhat  odd  plan  of  hating  her  for  the 
deed.  Poor  Mrs.  Browning  bribed  the  butler  to  let  her 
father's  dining  room  blind  remain  up  a  little  way  that 
she  might  obtain  one  glimpse  of  him  from  the  street, 
before  she  started  for  Florence.  She  was  so  weak  the 
poor  little  creature  had  to  hold  on  by  area  rails  while 
she  looked  her  last  at  her  cruel  father,  then  went  home 
and  spent  the  evening  in  crying. 

Another  of  the  old  gentleman's  whims  was  not  to  allow 
either  of  his  sons  to  learn  any  business  or  profession.  .  .  . 

•  ••••• 

I  saw  Vernon  Lushington  last  night;  he  said  that  he 
saw  Mrs.  Carlyle  on  Saturday  night  and  that  she  was 
looking  very  ill  and  thin;  this  is  not  brilliant,  but  that 
she  sees  anybody  is  an  improvement.  I  greatly  want  to 
see  her  but  it  is  of  no  use  going  so  far  as  it  is  a  great 
chance  for  any  one  to  do  so. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


134  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.  W., 

May  29,  1857. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

...... 

I  have  been  working  hard  at  little  Lushington  and 
shall  soon  be  at  a  standstill  for  some  of  the  family  to 
come  and  look  at  it.  Next  week  I  expect  a  lot  of  persons 
to  come  and  see  my  Lord  Bacon,  which  is  finished  and 
ready  to  go  to  its  destination  :  I  intend  starting  it  on 
the  ioth  June. 

For  my  own  part,  as  I  think  I  have  told  you  before,  a 
visit  to  your  house  does  me  more  harm  than  good,  for, 
I  am  such  a  long  time  so  fastidious  that  no  kind  of  society 
hardly  pleases  me,  the  women  do  not  seem  refined  enough 
and  the  men  seen  to  have  dwindled  :  I  must  except  two, 
the  Carlyles  :  I  saw  them  on  the  evening  of  my  return 
and  had  the  pleasure  of  finding  Mrs.  Carlyle  considerably 
better  than  I  have  seen  her  for  a  long  time.  Carlyle  was 
sad,  almost  broken  down  with  the  huge  difficulties  he  has 
still  to  grapple  with  in  conquering  the  man  whom  no 
other  could  conquer. 

Sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.W., 

June  25,  1857. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

Mr.  Lear  is  in  town  but  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to 
see  him,  he  is  so  very  busy  and  says  he  ought  to  go  to 
756  places  every  evening  ! 

I  had  a  note  from  Professor  Thompson  the  other  day, 
in  which  he  told  me  that  the  Manchester  authorities  had 
given  my  bust  the  place  of  honour  in  the  exhibition  there. 

I  cannot  send  a  long  note  for  I  am  killingly  busy  work- 
ing all  day  and  half  the  night  to  finish  a  sketch  I  am 
doing  for  Went  worth's  statue:  for  it  seems  the  Sydney 
people  will  have  a  statue  after  all.  Unfortunately  I  work 
with  no  or  but  little  hope  as  Wentworth  knows  nothing 


{Photograph  by  Hills  and  Saunders,  Oxford. 
DR.    JOHN    HENRY    NEWMAN,     1867 
Taken  in  the  Library  of  Keble  College. 


[To  face  page  134. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  135 

of  art  and  will  not  understand  my  sketch,  and  fully 
believes  I  know  very  little  of  art  and  seems  to  have  no 
confidence — he  has  been  going  to  Marochetti  and  Munro. 

He  wanted  Gibson  to  do  his  statue  but  he  refused 
saying  his  hands  were  full  of  work,  the  truth  is  Gibson 
is  unable  to  do  a  modern  statue,  and  when  obliged  to  do 
one  he  puts  his  man  in  a  sheet  or  a  blanket — ^is  it  not 
odd? 

Veiy  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

I  have  been  several  times  to  Mrs.  Prinsep's  and  have 
enjoyed  my  visits  greatly.  I  always  meet  interesting 
persons.  Last  Sunday  there  were  Thackeray,  Bayard 
Taylor,  Kinglake,  Watts  &  Hunt.  I  also  saw  Mrs. 
Brookfield. 

T.  Woolner  to  W.  M.  Rossetti 

Manchester, 

Aitgust  2,  1857. 

Dear  William, 

I  have  not  been  able  before  to  write.  .  .  .  The 
Art  Treasures  Ex.  does  not  close  until  the  end  of  Oct. 
This  is  a  most  fearfully  busy  place,  no  rest  for  mind  or 
body,  din,  clatter,  thunder,  dust,  smoke,  showers  of  black 
smuts,  &  therefore,  as  you  may  suppose  not  exactly  the 
place  I  like.  .  .  .  But  the  Art  Treasures  are  worth  any 
amount  of  inconvenience — wonderful — only  too  rich — you 
are  bewildered  with  the  amount.  The  w-colors  of  Turner, 
W.  Hunt,  D.  Cox  are  without  exaggeration  transcendently 
beautiful.  Mulreadys  from  the  life  marvellous,  the  best 
I  ever  saw.  ...  I  went  to  hear  Dickens  read  his  Xmas 
Carol,  he  did  it  admirably :  the  Free  Trade  Hall  was 
quite  full  of  hearers.  I  wish  you  were  here.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Fairbairn's  children  are  most  interesting  little  things  and 
I  suspect  that  I  shall  be  able  to  make  something  good  of 
them.  Tennyson  was  delighted  with  Art  Treasures,  liked 
his  reception  among  Manchesterians,  they  have  an  immense 
reverence  for  him.  I  am  going  to-morrow  to  stay  at 
house  of  Frank  Jewsbury,  Esq.,  92,  Stockport  Road — if 
you  should  have  anything  to  write  about.  .  .  .  Kindest 
regards  to  your  Mother  and  sisters. 

Yours  ever, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


136  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W., 

August  18,  1857. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  scarcely  got  the  Manchester  smoke  and  din 
out  of  me  yet  and  feel  the  greatest  difficulty  in  setting  to 
work.  I  arrived  in  London  at  10  on  Saturday  night, 
having  had  as  pleasant  a  ride  with  Mr.  Stephen  Spring 
Rice  as  was  possible  under  the  circumstances. 

I  went  on  Sunday  evening  to  see  Carlyle  who  enquired 
most  kindly  after  you  both  and  was  grieved  to  hear  of 
your  husband's  illness.  ...  I  am  anxious  to  know  how 
he  is  getting  on,  do  send  me  a  line  if  you  please  just 
to  saj^ 

I  never  heard  Carlyle  talk  more  solemnly  than  he  did 
the  other  evening  about  the  condition  which  our  states- 
men are  bringing  our  country  to  :  he  did  not  at  all  run 
into  fierce  declaiming  and  denunciation  but  talked  calmly 
and  keenly  for  fully  an  hour  on  India,  China  and  the 
causes  of  the  outbreaks  in  a  style  quite  different  to 
parliamentary  debates. 

Very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Carlyle  spoke  with  profound  contempt  of  Ruskin  be- 
cause the  little  Art  Deity  called  "  Aurora  Leigh "  the 
finest  poem  by  far  of  the  present  age,  and  gave  him  a 
copy  to  read. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W., 

August  23,  1857. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

In  my  last  letter  I  forgot  to  tell  you  how  miserable  my 
pussy  was  after  I  left  here  for  Manchester  :  poor  puss  came 
in  as  usual  at  my  tea  time  and  as  I  was  absent  he  looked 
quite  unhappy  and  would  not  take  his  milk  when  given 
to  him,  and  after  coming  fruitlessly  for  several  evenings 
ceased  coming  altogether.     When  I  came  back  on  Saturday 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  137 

night  he  made  a  deal  of  fuss,  jumped  upon  my  knee — a 
Hberty  he  never  takes  at  any  other  time — sat  down  and 
purred  most  triumphantly.  On  Sunday  evening  we  had 
tea  J  an  hour  earlier  than  usual  and  when  puss  came  in  I 
was  absent ;  he  could  scarcely  believe  it,  but  went  up  to  my 
brother  several  times  to  examine  him,  and  at  last  having 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  his  senses  did  not  deceive  him, 
he  sat  looking  at  my  vacant  chair  and  would  not  be  con- 
soled either  with  milk  or  bread  and  butter.  Who  will  ever 
persuade  me  that  pussies  have  no  affections?  The  truth 
is  very  few  persons  treat  them  with  proper  respect,  and 
animals  understand  a  slight  or  insult  a  great  deal  more 
clearly  than  we  give  them  credit  for. 

I  am  going  on  with  my  sketch  for  Mr.  Fairbairn's  children 
but  at  present  I  cannot  say  satisfactorily  :  I  find  it  so 
hard  to  fix  my  mind  upon  one  subject  after  having  had 
it  dissipated  upon  many  as  I  had  at  the  Manchester  Ex  : 
and  railway  travelling  always  upsets  my  head  for  work  for 
some  time. 

I  should  like  to  go  and  live  in  Paris  for  a  year  or  two  : 
I  think  that  if  I  get  the  Fairbairn  children's  heads  modelled 
and  can  secure  a  commission  from  the  Trevelyans  I  may 
be  able  to  manage  it.  It  would  be  a  great  thing  for  me,  as 
I  found  the  Paris  atmosphere  dry  and  well  suited  to  me; 
and  besides  I  should  not  have  such  a  fearful  deal  of  my 
time  occupied  with  friends  and  folks  of  my  acquaintance.  .  . 

I  was  grieved  to  see  the  death  of  Sir  Henry  Lawrence 
announced,  for,  from  what  I  have  been  able  to  gather  he 
was  by  far  the  most  able  man  in  India  :  his  brother  is  also 
a  very  fine  fellow,  but  we  are  not  overdone  with  great 
men.     I  am  going  to  see  the  Patmores  this  evening. 

•  ••••• 

Very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.W., 

October  13  [1857  ?]. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

What  of  all  things  in  the  world  think  you  I  have 
been  doing  ?  Novel-reading  !  I  have  finished  off  Pamela 
and  am  now  deep  in  Clarissa  Harlowe  :  I  am  enchanted 
with    her,    the    fine   sensibilities    and    choice  suggestions 


138  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

of  her  beauty,  her  noble  indomitable  soul;  as  for  the 
scamp  Lovelace,  his  character  is  perfection  as  a  piece  of 
art,  if  art  can  be  perfect  without  perfect  adherence  to 
truth  :  I  say  this  for  I  do  not  believe  it  possible  to  find  a 
man  with  such  consummate  gifts,  so  keenly  alive  to  all 
that  is  good  and  refined  that  could  pursue  an  angel-hearted 
girl  with  such  relentless  villainy  for  such  a  fantastical 
object.  This  is  the  chief  objection  I  have  to  the  work,  but 
my  admiration  is  manifold  and  too  complex  to  express  in 
a  few  words  :  there  are  7  vols.  I  am  deep  into  the  4th 
and  feel  no  sign  of  lagging  interest  :  surely  this  is  something 
remarkable  in  a  reflective  kind  of  novel  as  I  may  call  this. 
I  am  the  more  pleased  with  this  Clarissa  as  modern  writers 
have  not  the  power  of  delineating  noble  women  :  of  all 
modern  female  characters  "  Maud  "  is  the  only  one  that 
peculiarly  delights  me;  I  love  Clarissa's  character  and 
because  her  character  is  so  thoroughly  developed  &  Maud 
because  there  are  only  a  few  divine  suggestions  and  all 
the  rest  left  to  the  imagination.  ...  I  finished  my  Fair- 
bairn  sketch  and  have  almost  done  the  Trevelyans  one.  .  .  . 
I  will  in  some  other  letter  give  you  my  meaning  in  the  sketch 
for  Trevelyans  :  I  hope  they  will  like  it  for  I  feel  sure  of 
being  able  to  make  an  attractive  and  interesting  group  of 
it.  I  hope  that  Ruskin  who  has  been  staying  with  them, 
has  not  set  their  minds  against  having  a  piece  of  sculpture 
at  all,  for  he  is  quite  capable  of  such  a  thing,  and  he  openly 
avows  that  he  "  hates  sculpture."   .  .  . 

Very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Wednesday,  December  16  [1857  ?]. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

We  did  not  mean  to  have  gone  but  when  they  came 
and  took  us  in  a  fly  what  could  we  do  ?  Not  that  we  should 
have  gone  had  they  not  told  us  Mr.  Maurice  could  not 
come.  The  boys  are  both  very  crazy  about  coming  to  see 
you.  I  hope  we  shall  manage  to  be  with  you  to-morrow 
about  4  and  then  perhaps  you  may  come  with  us,  we  are 
to  go  to  Mrs.  Prinsep's  on  Friday.  I  do  badly  to  stay  in  a 
a  house,  and  should  always  like  my  private  house  like  a 
snail  to  moor  alongside  of  that  of  a  friend. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  139 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.W., 

December  17,  1857. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  want  immensely  to  finish  off  your  med :  because  I 
hate  to  have  incomplete  things  about  me,  and  I  know  if 
I  make  it  perfect  it  will  be  a  great  delight  to  many  of  your 
friends,  for  altho'  you  do  very  little  in  the  visiting  way,  you 
are  the  most  popular  lady  I  ever  knew  :  it  would  be  of  no 
use  for  me  to  come  only  for  2  or  3  days,  as  it  takes  2  days 
to  allow  the  railway  shaking  to  subside  with  me,  and  I  can 
never  work  upon  any  very  delicate  work  unless  I  feel  quite 
calm  and  settled. 

I  went  by  Mrs.  Cameron's  invitation  to  the  Prescotts' 
on  Tuesday  evening  to  look  at  private  theatricals  in  which 
Miss  Cameron  took  a  chief  part  :  she  really  did  it  remark- 
ably well,  in  fact,  if  she  had  not  been  so  obviously  young, 
she  might  have  been  mistaken  for  an  experienced  actress ; 
her  movement  was  perfectly  unembarrassed  and  expressive 
and  her  voice  was  just  as  natural,  as  if  she  were  taking  her 
tea  and  chatting  with  a  few  private  friends  :  the  old 
satirist  Thackeray  sat  next  to  me  and  he  seemed  to  be 
extremely  amused,  turned  to  Mrs.  Cameron  "  Never  let 
her  act  again,  or  she  will  be  ruined  from  this  moment." 
I  suppose  he  meant  in  consequence  of  her  great  success 
and  the  elicited  plaudits.  Lord  Monteagle  and  Mr.  Spring 
Rice  were  there.  I  believe  there  was  to  have  been  a  ball 
after  the  supper  but  Hunt  and  I  came  away  immediately 
the  acting  was  over.  .  .  . 

Very  truly 

Thomas  Woolner. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Vernon  Lushington  to  T.  Woolner 

St.  George's  Hall,  Liverpool, 

January  6,  1858. 

Dear  Woolner, 

I  have  received  both  your  notes,  they  came  both 
together.  And  the  worst  is  my  answer  must  be  a  wet 
blanket  to  your  scheme.  ...  I  have  this  however  to 
tell  you  that  I  have  just  come  back  from  smoking  a  pipe 
with  our  friend  Mr.  Miller  :  and  he  bids  me  say,  he  will  be 
just  delighted,  if  you  will  come  and  see  him,  "  come  straight  " 
he  says,  "  to  9  Everton  Brow  and  take  up  your  bed  there." 
There  you  shall  see  Turners,  Millaises,  Winduses  almost  as 
many  as  you  will,  and  one  of  the  heartiest  of  human  kind 
that  now  walk  on  terra  firma.  I  am  sure  you  would  enjoy 
it.  I  hope  all  things  prosper  with  you  at  Manchester. 
One  of  my  hopes  in  the  world  is  to  see  you  recognised  at 
your  proper  worth. 

As  for  me  &  the  Law,  we  get  on  pretty  well.  I  am 
like  a  farmer  jogging  to  market ; — not  yet  having  reached 
market. 

Yours  affectionately, 

Vernon  Lushington. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

Northwood,  Manchester, 

January  11,  1858. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

•  •.... 

I  have  an  awfully  tough  job  in  these  children,  and 
often  fancy  the  difficulty  will  prove  insurmountable. 

Mrs.  and  Mr.  Fairbairn  have  gone  away  for  a  week,  and 
intend  visiting  Lord  Ward  and  D.  of  Newcastle  :  Mrs. 
Fairbairn  was  half  afraid  to  go  because  the  little  boy 
was  seized  with  a  violent  fit  of  crying  just  as  she  was 

140 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS  141 

starting  :    the   Dr.  came  and   said   the   pain  in    his  knee 
which  caused  the  crying  was  only  temporary. 

I  have  been  once  to  see  the  Jewsburys  and  they  made  no 
end  of  affectionate  enquiries  for  their  great  hero  :  Miss 
Geraldine  Jewsbury  says  that  they  have  never  ceased 
talking  of  the  night  he  visited  them  and  feel  and  vow 
eternal  gratitude  toward  me  for  having  taken  him  there,  in 
fact,  she  says,  it  was  the  culmination  of  their  existence,  and 
to  crown  it  all,  his  introducing  you  to  Mrs.  Jewsbury  was 
to  make  the  remainder  of  their  daj^s  golden  or  something  of 
the  kind. 

You  will  think  I  must  have  plenty  of  spare  time  to  run 
on  gossiping  thus.  .   .  . 

Very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.  W., 

February  11,  1858. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  at  last  reached  Babylon  in  the  South  and 
can  have  my  chat  to  you  again ;  I  could  not  do  so  before 
as  my  life  has  been  a  model  of  perpetual  motion  ever  since 
I  left  Fairbairns,  and  when  I  was  there  I  had  no  extra  time, 
but  was  engaged  in  no  end  of  ways  and  at  last  found  it 
quite  impossible  to  fulfil  all  my  intentions  and  the  inten- 
tions of  others  towards  me,  so  made  a  clean  run  of  it  and 
went  away  to  Liverpool  where  I  stayed  three  days  with 
Mr.  Miller — a  gentleman  who  owns  a  valuable  collection 
of  pictures  and  is  extremely  hospitable  to  artists.  I  was 
hugely  delighted  with  the  great  Liverpool  Dock  five  miles 
long,  the  largest  and  best  in  the  whole  world  :  the  day  I 
was  there  the  ships,  from  one  end  to  the  other,  were  decked 
in  all  their  colours,  and  as  there  was  plenty  of  wind  the 
scene  was  very  gay.  What  I  found  most  interesting  was 
to  watch  the  ships  discharging  cargo,  with  the  strange 
countenances  of  the  sailors  and  their  foreign  costumes. 

From  Liverpool  I  went  to  Newcastle  and  stayed  a  few 
days  with  my  friend  W.  B.  Scott  :  while  there  I  went  to 
hear  Gerald  Massey  deliver  a  lecture  on  Pre-Raphaelitism ; 
it  was  very  good  and  stated  the  truth  of  the  movement  in 
a  popular  and  attractive  manner. 

From  Newcastle  I  went  to  Wallington  and  really  enjoyed 


142  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

several  daj^s,  during  the  day  going  out  with  the  keeper 
shooting  hares,  pheasants  &c.,  a  most  glorious  way  of 
seeing  the  country,  besides  exercising  the  prerogative  of 
humanity  in  bringing  the  feathered  race  within  bounds; 
In  the  evening  sitting  and  chatting  with  Lady  Trevelyan 
and  Sir  Walter  and  a  beautiful  young  lady  a  niece  of  theirs. 

On  my  way  home  I  called  at  York  and  stayed  a  few  days 
with  a  friend;  the  most  notable  thing  I  did  there  was  to 
convert  a  whole  family  to  the  true  faith  in  matters  poetical 
by  reading  The  Miller  s  Daughter  and  The  Gardener  s 
Daughter^  The  Sisters  and  a  few  minor  things.  They  were 
nice  kind  persons  with  a  good  amount  of  sense  and  taste, 
but  somehow  they  were  unable  to  penetrate  the  meaning 
and  catch  the  music :  when  I  had  done  reading  they  said 
they  had  never  heard  anything  so  lovely  in  all  their  lives, 
and  that  they  always  should  have  admired  it  if  they  had 
properly  understood  it.  So  you  see,  to  a  person  of  frantic 
philanthropies,  such  as  I  am  for  instance,  chances  are 
always  turning  up  where  a  little  good  may  be  done  ! 

I  enclose  a  pretty  lace  collar  for  my  little  friend  Hallam ; 
It  was  made  by  Lady  Trevelyan  expressly  for  him  and  as 
it  was  for  such  a  distinguished  child  as  the  son  of  our  living 
Apollo,  of  course  she  took  extra  pains  in  stitching  it  up  : 
she  sat  up  late  the  night  before  I  came  away  to  get  it  done. 

•  ••••• 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

I  did  a  med  :  of  Fairbairn  when  I  was  there,  he  makes  a 
very  good  one. 

W.  B.  Scott  to  T.  Woolner 

Miss  Hare's  Balcony  House, 
Tynemouth, 

February  23,  1858. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

Thanks  for  your  letter,  numerous  and  fervent  in 
proportion  to  the  agony  indured  by  the  writer  of  said 
missive.  It  is  too  bad  to  ask  you  to  write  I  plainly  see, 
so  we  in  these  parts  must  be  content  to  have  all  the  fewer 
letters  however  much  coveted.  But  why  can't  you  live 
with  the  world  shut  out,  you  bachelor  sculptor?  If  you 
had  a  wife  and  no  studio  out  of  the  house,  I  am  afraid  no 


i 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  143 

amount  of  income  v/ould  compass  solitude,  but  as  you 
are — more  especially  with  the  doctrine  you  express  about 
work  (which  I  apprehend  to  be  a  nuisance  at  all  times  and 
under  all  circumstances  save  when  it  is  called  for  by  the 
good  of  others)  to  wish  and  to  have  lie  so  close  one  would 
say,  they  may  be  comprehended  in  one.  Here  we  are  in 
front  of  the  sea,  which  is  to-day  like  a  waste  of  snowdrift 
under  the  pressure  of  a  southeast  wind,  making  the  window 
blinds  bellow  like  sails,  and  ventilating  this  room  in  a  most 
anti-sanitary  manner,  dreadful  for  one's  hands.  The 
effect  is  quite  other  than  what  I  want,  so  I  have  an  excuse 
for  retiring  to  the  fire  and  answering  your  letter  my  dear 
old  smoker.  .  .  . 

My  wife  sends  her  kindest  remembrances  and  wishes  you 
were  here  still. 

Yours  ever, 

W.  B.  Scott. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.W., 

February  22,  1858. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  was  highly  delighted  to  receive  your  letter  and  the 
little  letters  and  messages  :  I  was  surprised  that  Hallam 
had  made  such  progress  in  writing,  and  how  prettily  put 
together  his  words  were. 

•  ••••• 

I  have  not  commenced  modelling  either  Fairbairn's  or 
the  Trevelyan  group  but  am  going  on  with  the  marble 
bust  of  little  Lushington  and  cleaning  up  a  few  casts  of  my 
Tennyson  bust.  I  received  a  message  from  Mr.  Ruxton, 
the  chief  and  projector  of  the  American  Ex :  of  English 
pictures  at  New  York,  that  if  I  would  send  my  bust  over  to 
Boston  a  Dr.  Bellows  of  that  town  would  undoubtedly  buy 
it :  Dr.  B.  says  he  feels  inclined  to  buy  it  unseen,  having 
heard  so  much  about  [it]  from  Emerson.  I  suppose  Emer- 
son must  have  read  about  it  and  had  mentioned  it  in  his 
correspondence. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

Have  you  seen  and  do  you  like  W.  Morris'  poems?  I 
have  not  seen  them  to  read  yet,  but  long  ago  he  read  me 
some  which  I  thought  contained  some  original  ideas  and 
an  extraordinary  power  of  entering  the  far-back  old  knightly 


144  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

way  of  looking  at  things.  He  is  one  of  the  men  who 
worked  at  the  mural  Arthur  pictures  at  Oxford,  but  is  not 
experienced  as  an  artist.  I  am  afraid  from  all  I  gather 
that  those  pictures  are  not  the  marvels  of  art  persons  might 
be  led  to  suppose  who  only  listened  to  the  rhapsodies  of 
Ruskin  from  himself  or  diluted  through  his  disciples  : 
I  have  heard  only  one  person  who  is  totally  unexperienced 
give  an  opinion  upon  them,  and  altho'  he  admits  any 
amount  of  originality,  yet  at  the  same  time  confesses  that 
it  does  not  fulfil  its  object. 

I  saw  James  Spedding  a  week  ago  sitting  in  his  little 
back  room  correcting  Bacon  proof  sheets  as  usual ;  I  stayed 
and  smoked  a  cigar  with  the  judicious  philosopher  and 
heard  him  defend  Lord  Palmerston's  policy  toward  Louis 
Napoleon  and  chat  upon  various  things ;  he  made  kind 
enquiries  of  you  all,  said  he  had  not  heard  of  you  for  nearly 
two  months. 

I  suppose  you  do  not  take  much  interest  in  the  hubble- 
bubble  of  selfish  politics;  but  if  you  did  you  would  not 
receive  much  hope  from  such  characters  as  S.  Warren, 
Bulwer  and  Disraeli  being  three  of  our  rulers.  "It's  a 
sad  thing  "  Carlyle  once  said  to  me  "  when  a  man  cannot 
respect  the  government  of  his  country."  I  am  afraid  we 
have  been  in  that  predicament  for  some  time  past  and  seem 
likely  so  to  continue. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

Very  sincerely 

Thomas  Woolner. 

I  wish  indeed  I  had  been  dining  with  you  when  Sir  John 
was  or  at  any  time. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

February  25,  1858. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Many  thanks  for  both  the  letters.  If  you  could 
have  seen  the  quiet  smile  at  one  moment,  the  shout  of 
delight  at  another  as  the  letter  moved  them,  I  think  you 
would  have  felt  repaid  for  the  trouble  of  writing  it. 

But  for  that  bust  it  does  seem  a  very  great  shame  that 
it   should   leave   England.     We   had   heard   that   Trinity 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  145 

College  had  offered  £200  for  it.  I  do  not  know  what  the 
price  fixed  on  it  is  but  I  have  that  feeling  for  Trinity  that 
as  far  as  feeling  goes  I  would  rather  have  it  there  than 
elsewhere,  though  I  know  it  ought  to  be  in  London - 

Alfred  says  "  tell  him  not  to  part  with  that  to  America 
he  is  sure  to  find  a  purchaser  in  England."  I  do  hope  you 
will  soon  come  to  us. 

With  Alfred's  and  the  boys'  love  and  thanks, 
Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.  W., 

March  11  [1858]. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson. 

I  was  at  J.  Parker's  on  Tuesday  evening  and  there 
saw  Matthew  Arnold,  first  time  since  I  saw  him  at  Tent 
Lodge  in  1850  :  .  .  .  he  made  kind  enquiries  after  you 
who  seem  to  have  taken  his  fancy  exceedingly.  He  was  a 
regular  swell,  in  brilliant  white  kid  gloves,  glittering  boots 
and  costume  cut  in  most  perfect  fashion.  He  had  a  long 
talk  with  Patmore  :  whose  countenance  the  whole  time 
beamed  radiant  joy  with  the  satisfaction  of  holding  inter- 
course with  such  a  high  Oxford  don  of  critical  propensities. 
You  were  mistaken  in  supposing  Trinity  College  had  offered 
£200  for  my  bust ;  if  they  had  the  bust  should  have  been 
in  their  Library  long  ago.  ...  I  went  and  saw  the  im- 
mortal Thomas  and  his  wife  the  other  evening  :  I  am  happy 
to  say  she  is  getting  thro'  this  winter  far  better  than  she 
did  the  last  .  .  .  He — the  grim  one — was  almost  pleased 
for  he  has  nearly  completed  his  2  first  Vols,  of  Frederick. 
He  was  talking  chiefly  upon  the  barbaric  ignorance  of  the 
English  in  matters  historical,  and  retailed  an  anecdote 
which  he  said  was  almost  incredible,  only  as  it  happened 
to  himself  he  could  manage  to  believe  it : — He  was  at  a 
nobleman's  house  where  were  collected  some  of  the  chief 
lawyers  and  statesmen  of  the  land,  and  happening  to 
mention  the  battle  of  Tcherzsne  between  the  Russians  and 
Turks  in  1770,  he  said  not  one  of  these  distinguished 
persons  had  ever  heard  of  it  !  .  .  . 

With  kindest  wishes, 

Very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


146  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W.^ 

April  2,  1858. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  went  to  spend  the  day  at  Cambridge  the  Sunday 
before  last,  but  was  so  pleased  with  the  place  that  I  stayed 
Monday  likewise.  I  had  never  been  there  before  and 
found  plenty  to  interest  me  among  those  stately  old  col- 
leges, for  they  are  so  filled  with  associations  of  mighty  men  : 
a  person  might  spend  a  week  there  agreeably  if  not  profit- 
ably, probably  both;  but  my  stay  was  so  short  that  I 
could  only  glance  at  the  lions  and  the  rarities.  I  saw 
Milton's  mulberry  tree,  planted  by  his  own  hand  they  say. 
I  went  to  Trinity,  saw  the  proud  Master  who  showed  me 
the  statue  of  Bacon,  which  is  only  a  modernised  copy 
of  the  old  one  in  St.  Michael's  Church  at  St.  Albans ;  also 
the  statue  of  Milton  by  Roubilliac,  which  is  a  very  good 
specimen  of  a  very  bad  manner.  After  looking  at  these 
the  high  dignitary  took  me  into  the  library  and  showed  me 
the  statue  of  Byron  by  Thorwaldsen. 

Mr.  Clark  the  tutor  of  Trinity  kindly  invited  me  to  dine 
in  Hall,  and  I  found  it  very  interesting  to  see  the  hundreds 
of  students  in  their  old  quaint  gowns  busily  employed 
doing  honour  to  substantial  things  :  after  dinner  a  long 
grace  in  Latin,  then  we  adjourned  to  Accommodation 
Room,  where  I  had  a  long  chat  with  Professor  Thompson 
upon  Greek  Art  chiefly  Phidian ;  I  found  him  an  extremely 
interesting  dignitary  and  most  appallingly  knowing  in 
matters  Greek. 

I  stayed  with  Mr.  Macmillan  the  publisher  :  he  was 
extraordinarily  kind  in  showing  me  about,  and  he  has 
such  a  keen  appreciation  for  all  high  things  in  poetry  and 
other  literature  that  he  is  a  very  agreeable  companion. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

I  called  and  saw  Mrs.  Carlyle  and  am  sorry  to  say  she 
looks  most  dreadfully  ill  :  she  had  got  through  the  winter 
very  well  until  two  warm  days  came  about  ten  days  ago, 
when  she  was  tempted  by  the  genial  air  to  go  out  of  doors 
for  ten  minutes  each  day  and  doing  so  gave  her  fresh  cold. 
She  feels  it  irksome  to  remain  in  so  long  having  been  shut 
up  for  twelve  weeks  :    she  looks  worn  and  sad,  I  did  not 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  147 

see  the  grim  man,  but  he  is  I  beheve  pretty  well  and  hard 
at  work  bringing  his  2  first  vols,  of  Frederick  to  a  close. 

After  this  I  took  steamboat  and  train  and  went  to  see 
Mrs.  Cameron;  I  met  Miss  Cameron  with  a  large  brown 
paper  bag  full  of  hot-cross  buns,  which  she  was  taking  to 
some  hospital  patients  close  by  ! 

•  ••••• 

I  saw  Pat  more  the  other  night  at  J.  Parker's  and  he  was 
talking  a  great  deal  to  me  of  a  new  poem  called  Anastasia, 
which  he  says  contains  some  of  the  finest  things  he  ever 
read,  and  that  for  fine  imagery  Shelley  is  nothing  to  him  : 
I  have  not  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  it  yet  but  I  daresay 
you  have  as  all  poems  are  sent  to  Farringford.  Patmore's 
own  book  is  selling  off  well  at  last  :  so  his  turn  has  come  at 
last ;  his  Angel  has  not  met  the  respect  she  deserved  at  the 
hands  of  the  British  Public,  and  now  I  suppose  said  Public 
mean  to  recompense  him  for  old  neglect  :  as  you  may 
naturally  suppose  P.  is  in  good  spirits. 

At  Parker's  I  also  met  Froude,  who  is  an  extremely 
serious  man ;  he  said  he  should  greatly  like  me  to  model  a 
bust  of  the  high  and  puissant  Thomas  Carlyle,  for  he  believes 
that  Carlyle  and  Tennj^son  are  the  only  men  of  the  present 
time  whose  heads  will  be  cared  for  200  years  hence.  It 
does  seem  a  pity  such  a  prodigious  genius  should  not  have 
his  countenance  recorded  faithfully  in  a  durable  material. 
The  difficulty  would  be  to  get  him  to  sit,  in  fact  it  would 
be  a  formidable  undertaking,  for  the  dragon  might  open  fire 
at  any  moment. 

•  ••••« 

Believe  me, 

Ever  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Hallam  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

April  28,  1858. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Love  and  kisses.  I  used  to  love  you  and  you 
used  to  love  me  and  you  played  with  me.  I  love  you  and 
you  love  me.  What  games  did  you  play  with  me  when  you 
were  here?  Have  you  forgotten  them?  Mamma  has 
not  been  well  but  now  she  is  better  and  papa  is  making 
a  beautiful  summer-house,  and  would  you  like  to  come  and 
see  it?     Mamma  has  been  wheeled  in  the  little  carriage 


148  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

and  papa  draws  it,  and  papa  says  mamma  must  come  to 
the  summer-house  and  papa  painted  the  summer-house 
all  by  himself.     I  want  very  much  to  see  you. 

Your  affectionate 

Hallam  Tennyson. 

T.    WooLNER    TO    Mrs.    Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.  W., 

May  2,  1858. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  been  half  expecting  to  do  a  bust  of  Sir  James 
Brooke ;  T.  Fairbairn  says  if  he  can  be  induced  to  sit  to  me 
he  will  have  it  done  in  marble  :  Mr.  Novelli,  T.  Fairbairn' s 
most  intimate  friend  knows,  the  Rajah  well  and  is  going 
to  do  his  best  towards  that  object;  this  is  one  reason  why 
I  must  be  here  and  on  the  alert,  in  case  of  an  opportunity 
offering.  I  have  finished  the  bust  of  little  Lushington, 
which  took  me  a  long  time. 

•  ••••• 

I  will  write  again  when  I  have  seen  Hunt  and  Mrs. 
Carlyle. 

•  ••••• 

Tell  Hallam  I  should  very  much  like  to  see  the  summer- 
house  and  see  his  Papa's  style  of  painting  upon  it.  I 
expect  it  is  in  the  broad  anti-pre-Raphaelite  style.  And 
Lionel  tell  him  his  letter  was  a  very  pretty  letter,  but  I  was 
not  perfectly  clear  as  to  its  meaning  in  some  parts,  but  I 
saw  it  was  very  affectionate,  which  I  was  very  glad  to 
see ;  and  tell  them  both  I  hope  soon  to  love  and  kiss  them 
really  instead  of  in  letters,  for  the  love  in  letters  is  noi:  so 
sweet  as  when  we  can  see  it  with  our  eyes. 

With  kindest  wishes, 

Ever  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W,, 

June  7,  1858. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  should  have  written  before  but  was  waiting  for 
Mrs.  Carlyle's  answer  :   I  went  twice  to  Chelsea  unsuccess- 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  149 

fully  to  see  her,  and  as  I  could  not  spare  time  for  another 
attempt,  I  wrote  your  message  to  her  :  the  enclosed  will 
explain  the  rest  :  when  you  write  to  me,  please  send  it  back 
for  I  never  like  to  destroy  her  letters — unless,  of  course, 
you  wish  to  keep  it.  You  will  see  the  mighty  man  of 
genius  is  not  so  easily  managed  as  a  pet  bird.  I  think  if 
he  could  see  his  wife's  weak  state  so  keenly  as  he  can  spiri- 
tual truths,  he  would  not  let  his  plans  interfere  with  her 
little  projects  for  health-seeking.  The  last  two  years  have 
made  sad  havoc  in  her  constitution. 

I  have  seen  a  good  deal  of  Palgrave  of  late  and  find  him 
an  exceedingly  nice  fellow  :  of  course  I  feel  somewhat 
awed  before  a  man  who  has  read  the  whole  of  Plato  in 
the  Greek,  but  as  he  is  not  oppressive  with  his  learning  we 
get  on  very  well  together,  and  his  high  regard  for  the 
Lord  Farringford  is  pleasant  common  ground  for  us 
both. 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  I  admire  the  new  poem  of  "  Guene- 
vere  "  ;  it  seems  to  me  the  best  of  the  three,  not  in  execution 
for  they  are  all  perfect,  but  the  subject  being  more  complex 
and  difficult,  there  was  scope  for  greater  subtlety  of  power. 
In  the  whole  range  of  our  literature  there  is  not  a  finer 
scene  than  where  the  King  moves  away  from  the  Abbey. 
I  most  earnestly  wish  you  could  persuade  him  to  do  the 
Maid  of  Astolat,  not  only  for  the  extreme  beauty  of  the 
subject,  but  for  the  sake  of  introducing  much  of  Sir  Launce- 
lot,  he  being  a  character  of  such  terrible  importance  to  the 
"  Guenevere  "  poem,  and  the  immense  suggestions  arising 
from  the  poor  lady's  death. 

I  am  working  at  Fairbairn's  group,  but  getting  on  very 
slowly  :  if  one  is  not  content  to  do  work  in  the  old  conven- 
tional manner,  the  difficulties  he  draws  upon  himself  are 
not  light. 

I  went  to  Burlington  House  on  Friday,  a  huge  party; 
saw  Mrs.  Prinsep  there,  the  only  fine  looking  woman  in 
the  room;  she  was  most  admirably  dressed;  I  have  to 
dine  at  her  house  next  Sunday. 

My  love  to  your  darling  little  pets;  tell  them  I  will 
write  when  I  get  some  time  and  something  to  say. 

Ever  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


150  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Mrs.  Carlyle  to  T.  Woolner 

5,  Cheyne  Row,  Chelsea, 

Thursday     [June  1858]. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  was  very  vexed,  in  fact  savage  at  finding  your 
card  again  !  It  was  such  an  unlikely  accident  my  being 
out  that  day  !  My  husband,  having  no  proof-sheets  on 
hand,  was  suddenly  struck  with  my  "  thinness "  and 
"  paleness  "  and  decided  on  taking  me  "  a  few  miles  on  a 
railway  to  try  if  that  would  put  any  life  into  me  !  "  and 
we  were  away  trying  when  you  called. 

As  to  Farringford  I  need  no  representations  to  make  me 
feel  its  desirableness  !  The  idea  of  being  iji  the  country 
with  the  Tennysons  is  quite  tempting  enough ;  independent 
of  "  beauty  of  scenery  "  etc.  etc.  !  But  till  Mr.  C.  is  gone 
to  Scotland,  and  has  settled  his  further  plans,  it  is  no  use, 
I  know,  entertaining  a  plan  of  my  own.  There  is  talk  of 
my  meeting  him  in  Yorkshire  and  in  various  parts  of 
Great  Britain  !  I  must  just  wait  till  I  know  if  I  am  wanted, 
before  I  think  about  what  I  wish.  If  I  am  allowed  "  to 
wander  at  niy  own  sweet  will,"  however,  and  Mrs.  Tenny- 
son's angelic  invitation  be  still  open  then,  I  should  really, 
I  think,  be  able  to  muster  faith  and  hope  and  even  physical 
strength  enough  to  go  to  her  for  a  few  days. 

I  wish  Tait  had  not  painted  Nero  as  big  as  a  sheep  ! 
That  is  what  provokes  me;  more  than  being  transmitted 
to  "  Posterity "  in  "  wrong  perspective "  and  with  a 
"  frightful  table  cover  !  " 

Yours  very  truly, 

Jane  Carlyle. 

Sunday  !  Oh  my  gracious  !  I  took  this  note  to  the 
post  myself  with  some  others  on  Monday  afternoon  and  I 
lind  it  in  the  pocket  of  my  dress  this  morning. 

W.  B.  Scott  to  T.  Woolner 

Newcastle, 

September  19,  1858. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

I  was  very  glad  to  hear  from  you  the  other  day.  .  .  . 
I  can  tell  you  that  Italy  is  all  that  has  been  said,  sung  or 
painted,  and  that  the  old  masters  were  greater  than  I  pre- 
viously believed  them  to  have  been.  ...  If  one  had  gone 
early  and  with  the  old  reverence,  it  is  far  from  certa^in  that 


VIRGILIA    BEWAILING    THE    BANISHMENT    OF    CORIOLANUS,     18G7 
From  the  plaster  model. 


[To  face  page  150. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  151 

the  result  would  have  been  good,  the  authority  of  the  past 
would  have  possibly  enslaved  one,  but  as  it  is  I  hope  to 
derive  only  good,  I  who  am  infinitely  little  of  a  hero 
worshipper.  Venice  I  found  little  to  my  taste.  It  is  only 
a  show  and  easily  exhausted.  Titian  and  Paul  Veronese 
are  pompous  coves  and  always''  going  in  "  for  the  splendour 
and  sumptuosity — qualities  my  cynical  nature  hates,  and 
as  for  Tintoret  he  is  an  intolerable  libertine  although  in 
many  regards  his  great  "  Crucifixion  "  in  San  Roco  is  one  of 
the  2  or  3  most  notable  pictures  I  have  ever  seen.  Then 
there  is  nothing  in  Venice  but  the  Venetian  School  (properly 
enough)  and  when  these  3  great  gladiatorial  individuals 
have  been  mentioned,  we  must  fall  back  on  the  Bellini 
and  a  few  others  nobler  and  purer  than  the  gladiators  but 
exhaustible.  There  is  the  bronze  of  Collione  which  you 
know  but  little  else  in  sculpture. 

Florence  is  the  glorious  place — city  and  country,  art  and 
nature,  never  to  be  forgotten ;  great  churches  and  galleries 
endlessly  interesting,  and  as  one  is  neither  a  catalogue- 
maker  nor  picture  dealer  there  is  Fiesole  and  San  Miniato 
and  other  places  about.  The  Brownings  were  gone  to 
Paris  so  I  did  not  see  them  which  was  a  disappointment. 
What  lots  of  work  you  seem  to  have  in  hand  now.  I  sup- 
pose if  one  asks  this  day  5  years  how  the  group  for  the  hall 
is  getting  on  one  may  hear  something  of  it. 

Yours  ever, 

W.  B.  Scott. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.  W., 

October  12,  1858. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

Having  been  busily  employed  enjoying  myself 
merely  it  was  not  natural  that  I  should  have  any  time  to 
spare,  for  it  is  only  industrious  persons  who  ever  have  any 
leisure,  and  I  should  have  written  to  you  long  ago  to  tell  you 
that  you  made  a  serious  mistake  in  supposing  that  you  saw 
my  lip  curl  with  contempt  when  you  were  criticising  my 
work ;  I  would  rather  my  lips  were  split  into  a  hare  lip  than 
it  should  ever  show  contempt  for  anything  you  said  : 

As  to  your  fear  that  I  did  not  know  your  admiration  foi 
my  bust,  it  is  quite  groundless  I  assure  you,  and  I  never 


152  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

want  higher  praise  so  long  as  I  Hve  than  I  have  had  from  you, 
and  I  know  it  to  be  impossible  for  me  to  receive  any  that 
I  can  value  more  highly ;  and  so  you  may  imagine  how  de- 
lighted I  am  that  you  were  so  impressed  by  the  grim  Warrior 
of  Venice,  for  that  is  my  special  favourite  of  all  the  middle- 
age  sculpture  I  have  ever  seen.  Do  you  remember  that  I 
pointed  out  parts  of  the  horse's  head  as  in  some  respects 
inferior  to  the  other  portions  of  the  work  ?  Since  then  I 
have  learned  more  about  it,  and  find  that  the  sculptor 
considered  himself  shabbily  treated  by  the  Venetian  Senate 
and  left  Venice  and  the  statue  with  the  horse's  head  incom- 
plete, and  it  had  to  be  finished  by  some  inferior  man.  The 
Senate  were  in  such  a  rage  that  they  passed  sentence  of 
death  upon  Verocchio,  who  snapped  his  fingers  at  them  and 
grinned  :  after  some  years  the  old  rascals  wanted  a  piece 
of  sculpture  done  and  humbly — I  suppose — invited  him 
back,  and  as  he  considered  Venice  rather  a  nice  place  he 
consented. 

I  am  charmed  to  think  that  you  have  had  Mr.  Maurice 
with  you,  for  you  must  have  enjoyed  having  intercourse 
with  such  a  lofty  soul  :  and  Ludlow  too,  he  is  a  very  fine 
fellow,  I  have  the  highest  respect  for  him.  These  with  Sir 
John  Simeon  must  have  been  a  glorious  party. 

While  I  was  with  the  Rajah  his  friend  Novelli,  who  is 
also  Fairbairn's  most  intimate  friend,  asked  me  to  come  to 
Aberystwyth  and  spend  a  few  days  with  him ;  I  intended 
not  to  go  anywhere  when  I  had  done  the  bust  but  consider- 
ing what  an  important  man  he  was,  and  how  tough  a  job 
it  is  going  through  a  London  winter  with  no  country  given 
health  to  support  one,  and  also  feeling  in  a  very  unsettled 
state  of  mind,  I  promised  to  go,  and  very  glad  I  am  that 
I  did  go,  for  I  feel  as  strong  again  as  when  I  went.  .  .  .  and 
I  enjoyed  myself  mightily.  He  is  one  of  the  most  fascinat- 
ing men  I  ever  met,  he  has  the  soul  of  a  poet  with  the  pro- 
foundest  comprehension  of  business  in  its  minutest  details  : 
the  Rajah  calls  him  Prince  of  British  Merchants  ;  and  alt  ho' 
this  Prince  has  one  of  the  most  enormous  businesses  in  the 
World,  he  wields  it  all  as  lightly  as  a  lady  plays  with  a 
feather ;  he  perfectly  astounds  me  by  his  cleverness,  for  his 
accomplishments  never  seem  to  end ;  he  plays  the  piano 
exquisitely  and  his  own  compositions  make  one  think  he  has 
devoted  his  whole  life  to  the  art  of  music ;  to  see  him  play 
billiards  one  would  think  he  must  have  been  a  billiard 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  153 

marker,  for  he  beats  any  gentleman  player  and  gives  long 
odds.  I  shall  tell  you  plenty  about  him  when  I  see  you. 
Fairbairn  always  promised  me  as  the  highest  compliment 
he  could  pay  me,  that  he  would  introduce  me  to  his  friend 
Novelli,  and  altho'  I  believed  he  was  a  nice  fellow  from  his 
report,  yet  I  never  imagined  him  to  approach  what  I  really 
found  him.  To  make  his  happiness  complete  he  has  a  most 
charming  wife  and  two  children. 

You  did  not  tell  me  a  w^ord  about  the  "  Lady  of  Astolat," 
she  is  the  lady  who  claims  the  chief  of  my  interest  at  present, 
and  therefore  of  course  I  want  to  know  how  the  poor  young 
creature  goes  on  in  this  rough  world.  You  will  think  this 
the  most  egotistical  letter  you  ever  read,  but  I  must  tell 
you  what  Novelli  said  of  my  bust  of  the  illustrious  Poet ; 
he  said  that  it  was  the  only  bust  he  ever  saw  in  his  life  that 
thoroughly  satisfied  him  and  came  up  to  what  he  thought  a 
bust  should  be  :  and  I  think  it  is  because  he  has  such  a  high 
idea  of  my  artistic  power  thro'  this  work  that  he  has  taken 
such  a  great  liking  to  me — so  you  see,  hard  work  after  a 
while  does  bring  some  fruits. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.  W., 

October  22  [1858]. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

...  I  went  on  Saturday  Evening  to  see  the  Car- 
lyles,  who  made  the  kindest  enquiries  of  you  and  yours. 
Mrs.  Carlyle  looked  much  better  as  to  her  health  than  I 
have  seen  her  for  some  time  but  more  sad  than  I  think  I 
ever  saw  her  before,  in  fact  it  made  me  feel  quite  sad  to  see 
her.  Carlyle  himself  was  remarkably  well,  in  excellent 
spirits  and  a  good  temper  :  we  talked  a  great  deal  about 
Oliver  Cromwell — for  I  w^ant  some  time  to  get  up  a  statue 
— and  a  great  deal  of  the  Rajah  Brooke  :  Carlyle  has  the 
greatest  admiration  for  him,  which  I  am  pleased  to  say 
is  mutual;  I  am  going  to  take  the  Rajah  to  see  the  grim 
philosopher  some  evening  when  he  comes  to  town  to  stay  : 
it  will  be  good  fun  to  see  them  together — the  man  whose 


154  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

pen  talks  strong  words  and  the  man  who  talks  thro'  cannon- 
thunder  and  with  sharp  swords.  ...  I  am  busy  now  pre- 
paring to  commence  upon  my  Trevelyan  group  :  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  fidgetting  work  measuring,  carpentring,  and 
dirty  fuss  with  clay,  &c.,  before  one  can  set  to  work  upon  a 
large  subject  of  this  kind.  ...  I  went  and  dined  with 
Frank  Palgrave  on  Sunday  :  he  had  plenty  to  tell  me  of 
his  holiday  trip  &c.  I  spent  a  pleasant  half  day  and  am 
going  next  Sunday  to  Kew  to  see  Dr.  Hooker  his  cousin, 
whom  I  met  once  at  Hampstead.  .  .  .  Old  Sir  Francis  is 
almost  enthusiastic  about  Carlyle's  Frederick,  says  that 
[it]  is  by  far  the  best  thing  C.  has  done.  He  generally 
thinks  and  speaks  of  him  as  a  wild  man.  ...  I  went  to 
Holman  Hunt's  the  other  evening  and  met  Lear  who  shewed 
all  his  sketches  done  in  Holy  Land  :  I  think  that  they  are 
the  most  beautiful  things  he  has  ever  done  :  if  you  have 
not  seen  them  I  hope  you  will,  for  they  would  give  much 
delight  and  interest  you  extremely,  not  only  for  the  mystery 
and  history  attached  to  the  places  themselves  but  also  for 
the  excessive  fineness,  tenderness  and  beauty  of  the  art 
displayed  in  them.  One  of  the  finest,  a  comprehensive 
view  of  Petra  I  think,  by  sunrise,  he  is  going  to  execute 
large  in  oil  for  Mr.  Fairbairn.  .  .  .  Allingham  passed  thro' 
London  a  few  days  ago  :  he  had  been  spending  a  week 
with  the  Brownings  at  Paris  .  .  .  the  Brownings  are  back 
in  Florence  by  now.  .  .  . 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.  W., 

October  26  [1858  ?]. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

•  ••••• 

I  went  with  Frank  Palgrave  on  Sunday  to  Kew  to  see 
his  cousin  Dr.  Hooker  and  spent  a  delightful  day  going  thro' 
the  glasshouses  and  museums,  the  Dr.  very  kindly  pointing 
out  the  rare  plants  and  telling  of  their  peculiar  properties. 
One  plant  called  "  Moving  Plant  "  particularly  struck  me — 
at  the  base  of  every  leaf  are  two  small  leaves  that  are  con- 
tinually moving  up  and  down  and  in  short  jerks,  and  they 
look  as  if  they  were  telegraphing  to  each  other ;  if  you  have 
not  seen  it,  you  could  scarcely  have  seen  anything  so  odd. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  155 

There  is  another  water  plant  the  leaves  of  which  are 
skeletons  and  are  never  anything  else,  the  young  ones  are 
born  skeletons  and  grow  to  full  sized  skeletons  and  die 
such,  and  I  hope  are  decently  buried  as  such  !  Dr.  Hooker 
also  showed  me  a  curious  property  of  the  Euphorbia ;  if 
you  break  a  leaf  off  and  touch  a  drop  of  water  with  the 
white  juice  that  exudes  therefrom,  the  water  will  instan- 
taneously disperse  !  There  are  plenty  of  other  things  he 
showed  us  that  would  interest  you  to  see,  but  would  not 
much  interest  you  to  read  of  unless  they  were  written  by  a 
scientific  pen.  Both  the  Dr.  and  his  wife  are  delightful 
persons.  I  believe  old  Sir  AVilliam  is  a  very  fine  fellow,  but 
I  did  not  see  him. 

I  went  to  a  Council  Meeting  of  our  College  ^  yesterday ;  it 
was  called  in  consequence  of  Mr.  Maurice  having  resigned 
his  Principalship,  which  he  did  because  one  of  the  Council 
had  long  been  trying  to  counteract  his  teaching  and  had 
even  ridiculed  him  in  a  public  print.  We  managed  it  all 
rightly,  begged  Mr.  Maurice  to  withdraw  his  resignation 
and  said  that  his  views  should  be  strictly  respected,  and 
finally  gave  the  offender  a  sound  dressing  wliich  I  hope  will 
prove  beneficial  to  him. 

At  the  Council  I  met  Ludlow  who  told  what  a  delightful 
time  he  had  spent  at  yours.  I  daresay  that  you  will  think 
me  rude  for  telling  how  loud  he  was  in  your  praises.  I  never 
heard  him  praise  anybody  or  anything  so  highly  before 
since  I  have  known  him.  What  an  uncommonly  nice  old 
lady,  Ludlow's  mother  is  !  She  is  one  of  the  few  persons — 
the  very  few — that  I  have  met  in  my  life  who  fully  coincide 
with  my  notions  of  womanly  delicacy — I  daresay  that  I  am 
somewhat  fastidious  on  this  point  and  puritanical. 

I  have  now  really  begun  my  Trevelyan  group  and  have 
been  all  day  making  the  skeleton  and  putting  on  the  clay  : 
I  expect  the  Trevelyans  in  town  in  about  a  few  days  and 
they  would  naturally  have  been  considerably  disgusted  had 
I  made  no  commencement. 

I  see  by  the  papers  that  the  poor  Rajah  is  ill  and  at 
Manchester.  I  had  received  a  note  from  him  a  day  or  two 
before  saying  that  on  the  20th  he  should  be  back  at  his 
own  cottage  in  Godstone,  and  I  had  written  saying  how 
rejoiced  I  was  that  he  would  so  soon  be  back  to  quietness. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

^  Working  Men's  College. 


156  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.  W., 

November  14,  1858. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  ought  to  have  written  before  to  thank  you  for 
your  last  two  kind  notes,  but  the  truth  is  I  have  been  held 
prisoner  by  Frederick  WilHam  of  Prussia  of  late,  and  you 
know  what  a  stern  and  unrelenting  mortal  he  is,  and  what 
small  chance  there  is  of  getting  away  when  he  once  lays 
hold  of  you.  I  have  been  immensely  dehghted  with  the 
book  and  the  only  things  I  have  had  to  find  serious  fault 
with  are  the  great  number  of  genealogies,  which  are  pleasant 
enough  to  those  who  Hke  such  things,  but  personally  I  find 
them  a  bore.  The  amount  of  learning  Carlyle  has  managed 
to  cram  into  his  two  vols  :  is  tremendous,  and  I  do  not 
wonder  that  he  has  been  ill  or  nearly  so  ever  since  he 
commenced  upon  the  work.  I  notice  he  comes  down  rather 
hard  upon  poets  every  now  and  then  throughout  the  work ; 
which  I  do  not  altogether  see  the  fun  of,  for  surely  every- 
body is  not  called  upon  to  write  history,  and  those  who 
possess  the  gift  of  song  surely  have  a  right  to  exercise  it. 
But  you  know,  Carlyle  always  will  say  what  he  pleases 
and  he  never  seems  to  care  much  who  will  or  who  will  not 
like  it. 

I  am  working  at  my  Trevelyan  group  but  as  yet  do  not 
make  any  great  show,  for  sculpture  is  of  all  arts  the  slowest 
to  make  a  display.  I  wish  above  all  things  that  I  had  some 
lovely  sharp  cut  face  to  model  from  for  my  lady;  no-one 
can  imagine  the  immense  want  it  is  to  me. 

I  forget  if  I  told  you  that  I  went  and  spent  a  Sunday  at 
Oxford  a  fortnight  ago,  went  to  see  Woodward  ^  anent  the 
design  for  the  chief  entrance  to  the  Mus  :  the  design  was 
approved  of. 

•  ••••• 

I  grieve  to  say  that  Woodward  is  in  a  most  dehcate  state 
of  health,  in  fact  his  Hfe  looks  as  weak  as  a  little  candle  in 
the  open  air.  He  is  the  most  splendid  genius  we  have  in 
architecture,  and  his  loss  would  not  be  made  up  in  a  hurry. 

•  ••.., 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner, 

^  Benjamin  Woodward,  the  architect. 


ACHILLES    SHOUTING    FROM    THE    TRENCHES 

One  of  tlie  bas-reliefs  around  Gladstone  Bust  in  Bodleian. 


[Tj  fact  pags  157. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  157 


F.  T.  Palgrave  to  T.  Woolner 

Hampstead,  N.W., 

January  12,  1859. 

Dear  Woolner, 

If  it  is  agreeable,  would  Saturday  next  do  for  you 
to  come  to  dinner  at  6-6.15  ?  The  same  younger  friends 
of  mine,  by  name  Grove,  are  coming. 

It  was  not  with  reference  to  the  medallion  of  Mrs.  Tenny- 
son that  I  put  my  question,  but  in  order  to  answer  a  friend 
who  had  asked  me.  But  it  is  very  kind  in  you  to  offer  me 
one ;  and  if  you  will  have  one  really  to  spare,  I  should  value 
it  much  as  a  bit  of  your  work.  By  a  defect  in  mind, 
I  suppose,  portraits  as  such,  of  friends,  give  me  no  pleasure. 
I  am  glad  for  your  sake,  others  don't  feel  thus ;  and  I  am 
delighted  that  you  finished  the  work  to  your  satisfaction, 
that  you  had  so  long  a  holiday,  and  that  you  saw  the  great 
and  beloved  Jowett.  .  .  . 

Ever  y"^^ 

F.  'T.  Palgrave. 


James  Spedding  to  T.  Woolner 

60,  L.  I.  F., 

July  10,  1858. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

I  am  afraid  it  won't  do  for  me.^  I  do  not  find  my 
clubbish  tendencies  increase  with  years;  and  I  grow  every 
day  a  worse  member  of  the  few  societies  to  which  I  belong. 
The  evening  hours  are  my  best  working  hours ;  and  when 
the  rest  of  the  world  goes  abroad  I  feel  an  irresistible 
attraction  towards  home.  Whether  it  is  the  effect  of  years, 
or  of  my  particular  kind  of  occupation,  or  the  develop- 
ment of  a  disposition  naturally  incHned  to  solitude,  I  don't 
know  :  but  so  it  is.  I  have  no  doubt  the  society  will  be 
an  excellent  institution  for  those  who  have  an  affinity 
to  it ;  but  I  should  be  a  drone,  and  deserve  the  fate  which 
drones  have  to  undergo  when  the  hive  is  full.  I  am  glad 
to  hear  that  you  have  likewise  Maurice's  head  in  hand. 

Yrs.  ever. 

Jas.  Spedding. 

^  This  was  probably  in  reply  to  a  request  from  Woolner  to  propose 
Mr.  Spedding  as  an  honorary  member  of  the  Hogarth  Club  or  the  Working 
Men's  College. 


158  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.  W., 

August  3,  1858. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

My  kindest  thanks  for  your  kindness  in  sending  me 
news  of  the  letter  you  received. 

I  went  on  Saturday  to  Godstone  to  see  the  Rajah  of 
Sarawak  and  stayed  till  Monday  when  we  came  up  to  town 
together.  I  found  him  a  character  that  England  may  well 
be  proud  of  :  I  have  rarely  met  a  man  I  liked  so  well  at  once, 
for  I  felt  as  if  I  had  laiown  him  all  my  life ;  he  is  so 
thoroughly  frank  and  honest  and  has  such  a  fine  sympa- 
thetic nature.  He  has  the  slow  weighty  movement  of  the 
head  that  you  see  in  a  lion,  and  tho'  he  roars  with  laughter 
and  is  full  of  geniality,  you  see  when  talking  of  hostile 
matters  his  mouth  clench  like  a  vice  with  determination 
wholly  irresistible.  He  is  a  man  who  inspires  me  with 
entire  confidence  in  the  inexhaustibility  of  his  resources ; 
if  one  barrier  of  his  is  beaten  down  it  is  only  to  encounter 
another  and  a  stronger,  and  so  on  until  the  enemy  gives  up. 
I  could  go  running  on  about  him  for  pages  and  tire  you  out 
of  all  patience,  so  will  say  nothing  of  his  active  capacious 
forehead  &c.,  but  as  I  am  going  to  do  a  bust  of  him  I  hope 
to  have  some  day  a  chance  of  showing  you  what  he  is 
like  more  amply  than  I  can  in  words.  He  asked  me  to  go 
and  see  him  whenever  I  liked. 

I  am  in  a  state  of  furious  vexation  for  my  things  have 
returned  from  the  R.  Academy  Ex:  grievously  injured; 
glass  of  med :  smashed,  med :  injured :  and  a  figure  of 
St.  John  has  his  nose  crushed  to  pieces ;  and  persons  tell  so 
many  lies  I  cannot  discover  who  did  the  mischief. 

•  ••••• 

Very  truly  j^ours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.  W., 

January  16,  1859. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

Hurrying,  scurrying,  worrying,  toiling,  moiling,  and 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  159 

to  be  whirling  like  a  distracted  teetotum,  has  been  my  fate 
since  I  left  Farringford  over  a  week  ago.  This  is  the  first 
disengaged  time  I  have  had  since  that  time  or  I  should  have 
written  earlier. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

I  dined  with  the  Trevelyans  on  Wednesday  and  on  Thurs- 
day they  came  to  my  studio ;  Lady  T.  was  delighted  with 
your  med :  and  said  that  it  looked  20  years  younger  than 
the  old  one  but  I  battled  with  this  monstrous  exaggeration 
and  reduced  her  to  10  years,  which  she  stood  out  for  heroic- 
ally, and  said  that  tho'  she  did  not  like  the  other  much  yet 
this  she  thought  charming  and  beautiful.  They  were 
immensely  pleased  with  the  great  Rajah's  bust  but  I  do  not 
think  they  liked  Maurice's ;  which  is  curious,  for  every  one 
else  who  has  seen  it  has  been  very  much  so  :  I  daresay  it 
is  because  they  do  not  know  the  original. 

On  Thursday  evening  I  went  to  Letherhead  in  Surrey  to 
see  a  great  beauty  whom  I  have  long  been  promised  a  sight 
of — my  friend  who  mentioned  her  having  thought  she  would 
do  for  my  Trevelyan  Lady.  Altho'  it  certainly  was  an 
awful  bore  leaving  my  work  yet  I  was  munificently  repaid 
for  the  lady.  Miss  Waugh  ^  was  one  of  the  grandest  creatures 
I  ever  saw  and  her  face  is  not  far  from  what  I  want  for  my 
Lady  :  I  hope  to  get  her  to  sit. — I  stayed  all  the  next 
day  at  Letherhead  to  try  and  make  friends  with  her  and  I 
am  rather  in  hopes  that  I  succeeded ;  but  whether  I  did  or 
not,  I  did  her  a  great  deal  of  good,  for  I  converted  her  to 
Browning  and  almost — of  course  not  quite — but  almost 
made  her  look  with  suspicion  upon  that  schoolgirl  poet 
Longfellow;  Tennyson  was  her  established  poet,  but  she 
looked  with  a  gentle  eye  upon  the  Yankee  and  could  make 
neither  head  nor  tail  of  the  great  Robert  :  but  by  taking  a 
good  deal  of  pains  I  made  the  Yankee  sink  into  comparative 
insignificance  with  the  subtle,  sturdy  and  craggy  English- 
man overloaded  with  Italian  tendencies.  I  should  not 
have  taken  so  much  trouble  with  her  mental  development 
had  she  not  been  so  majestically  beautiful,  for  my  sense  of 
fitness  was  violated  in  knowing  that  such  an  imperial  look- 
ing creature  should  have  anything  hke  serious  admiration 
for  Longfellow,  and  yet  turn  from  Robert  Browning  as 
from  a  thing  of  not  much  importance.  I  will  tell  you 
more  of  her  if  I  manage  to  get  her  head  to  do,  but  now 
I  cannot  write  you  a  long  letter. 

^  Miss  Waugh  married  W.  Holman  Hunt  in  1865. 


160  THOMAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 

There  were  all  sorts  of  persons  called  upon  me  the  last 
week  I  was  away  from  home  :  the  Rajah  passed  thro' 
London  en  route  for  Somerset  and  wanted  to  see  me  : 
Fairbairn  called,  having  come  up  from  Man  :  ^  on  business  : 
a  gentleman  called  who  said  he  thought  of  having  a  marble 
of  the  Rajah — not  heard  if  he  has  made  up  his  mind  yet  : 
Mrs.  and  Mr.  Maurice  called  to  see  his  bust,  and  my  man  at 
the  studio  had  not  the  sense  to  put  it  in  a  proper  light  and 
position  to  show  them. — Curiously — you  know  I  was  com- 
plaining that  Frank  R.  Cox  would  not  publish  his  "  Break, 
Break,  Break  "  and  when  I  got  home  I  found  a  copy  with 
his  card ;  he  actually  has  brought  it  out  at  last ;  he  called 
on  me  to  ask  your  address,  I  suppose  that  he  wants  to  send 
you  a  copy.  My  love  to  my  little  pets  and  tell  them  that  I 
miss  my  fun  very  much  and  I  wish  they  could  come  to 
me,  for  I  shall  quite  forget  how  to  tell  stories  before  I  see 
them  again  if  I  do  not  mind  what  I  am  about. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

February  1,  1859. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Mr.  Cox  2  was  so  good  as  to  send  me  the  song,  and  I 
fully  meant  to  have  acknowledged  it  yesterday  but  post 
time  came  before  I  had  done  so,  having  as  usual  many  other 
letters  to  write. 

1  think  the  music  very  beautiful.  The  wailing  accom- 
paniment of  the  beginning  specially  so.  If  I  dare  I  should 
object  to  the  long  notes  of  the  second  stanza,  "  Well  "  is 
not  according  to  the  metre  of  the  poem.  We  both  hope  it 
will  not  be  long  before  we  hear  you  sing  it  and  then  who 
knows,  perhaps  I  may  give  you  a  hard  task  and  ask  you  to 
sing  mine  too,  and  you  are  not  to  say  I  have  stolen  the 
theme  because  it  happens  to  be  strangely  like  Mr.  Cox's, 

^  Manchester. 

2  Mr.  Frank  Cox,  the  musician,  gave  Woolner  lessons  in  singing,  he 
was  fond  of  singing  ballads  and  he  had  a  good  voice.  He  asked  Mr.  Cox 
if  he  would  ever  bo  first-rate,  tip-top,  and  as  the  musician  replied  he 
would  never  be  that,  he  discontmucd  his  lessons. 


HIS  LIFE  IN  LETTERS  161 

though  of  course,  wanting  much  of  the  beauty  and  all  the 
science  because  mine  was  done  before  my  marriage. 

•  ••••• 

Ever  yours  ^most  truly, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson. 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.  TF., 
February  8,  1859. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  just  returned  from  T.  Parker's  and  it  is  very  late. 
.  .  .  There  were  plenty  of  folk  at  Parker's ;  Mr.  Maurice 
looking  benign  as  ever  :  Froude,  polished,  judicial  and  keen, 
Grant,  Vernon  Harcourt,  Masson  and  plenty  of  others. 

I  will  send  your  Med  :  in  a  few  days  :  I  have  it  in  a  gold 
frame  and  it  looks  I  think  bright  and  pleasant  :  everybody 
who  sees  it  is  delighted  and  says  "  what  a  beautiful  profile 
she  has  "  ;  you  must  pardon  my  gossip  or  you  will  think  me 
an  Irishman  who  wishes  to  flatter. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

I  will  send  the  Stothard's  "  Boadicea  "  when  I  send  your 
med  :  also  a  photograph  of  self  which  I  promised  :  it 
makes  me  rather  an  upstart  guy,  but  it's  no  matter. 


T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W., 

February  12,  1859. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

There  was  no  need  to  ask  me  to  have  the  things 
framed  for  they  were  already  done  :  I  started  the  case 
containing  them  this  day. 

In  the  opposite  corner  of  the  case  will  be  found  the  photo- 
graph of  my  beautiful  and  majestic  countenance,  which  of 
course  will  illuminate  the  whole  of  the  house  with  its  bright- 
ness !  Next  will  be  found  your  Med :  it  is  a  beautifully 
clear  cast  and  the  best  that  has  been  taken  :   I  intended  to 

M 


162  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

have  kept  it  for  myself,  but  on  second  thoughts  determined 
on  sending  it  to  cheer  the  poetic  mind ;  not  that  any  person 
but  myself  could  detect  the  least  difference  in  the  casts, 
only  I  thought  it  the  greatest  compliment  to  send  him 
quite  the  best.  .  .  .  Please  to  let  it  be  hung  up  as  near 
Lear's  little  picture  as  possible  and  on  a  level  with  the  eyes 
of  a  person  ordinarily  tall. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  case  will  be  found  Stothard's 
"  Boadicea,"  an  extremely  choice  and  beautiful  engraving, 
I  think  quite  the  most  complete  of  all  Stothard's  works  :  so 
that  I  hope  Poetry  will  appreciate  Art  and  not  stick  this 
work  up  against  the  ceiling. 

I  wanted  to  pay  Mr.  Maurice  a  compliment,  for  the  great 
trouble  which  I  gave  him  in  sitting  to  me  for  his  bust,  and 
therefore  I  made  Mrs.  Maurice  a  present  of  your  Med: 
framed  in  the  same  way  that  yours  is,  and  on  Thursday  even- 
ing I  went  and  took  it  to  them  :  you  cannot  imagine  the 
delight  it  gave  them  both,  they  praised  it  as  highly  as  it  is 
possible  to  praise  such  a  little  thing,  and  made  many 
minute  observations  regarding  the  features  which  showed 
how  well  they  knew  the  original ;  and  I  am  sure  if  the  old 
saying  be  true  that  when  a  person's  face  grows  hot,  some 
one  is  praising  said  person,  I  am  sure  that  your  flesh  must 
have  been  burnt  dry  upon  your  face,  as  the  apples  are 
sometimes  parched  dry  upon  the  trees  under  an  Australian 
sun !  the  affection  that  Mrs.  Maurice  feels  for  you  is  some- 
thing extraordinary  : 

I  went  last  evening  to  Palgrave's  to  meet  Froude,  Grant^ 
and  Grove  at  dinner.  We  were  very  comfortable  :  Froude 
is  a  really  nice  fellow,  beside  being  a  magnate  in  history, 
and  has  most  exceedingly  gentlemanly  manners.  I  am 
sure  that  I  should  be  immensely  fond  of  Grant  if  I  knew  a 
great  deal  of  him.  Palgrave  is  extraordinarily  kind  to 
one  and  is  always  doing  some  good-natured  thing  or 
another. 

Fairbairn  called  to  see  how  the  bust  of  the  Rajah  is 
getting  on  and  was  very  well  pleased  with  my  progress. 
He  had  just  received  a  letter  from  the  Rajah. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

I  am  going  to  Uxbridge  to-morrow  to  see  the  Trevelyans 
who  are  staying  with  her  Sister  Mrs.  Hilliard,  who  is  one 

^  Sir  Alexander  Grant. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  163 

of  the  most  delightful  little  gossippy  creatures  that  ever 
lived.  .  .  . 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

February  15,  1859. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

The  box  has  arrived  quite  safely,  and  the  contents 
give  great  delight.  A.  says  of  my  medallion  he  does  not 
see  how  it  could  be  better,  so  you  see  he  is  not  ungrateful 
for  your  generosity.  Hallam  seemed  extremely  pleased 
with  it.  You  see  I  take  this  to  be  more  of  you  than  your- 
self for  I  begin  with  it.  Your  noble  self  ^  is  not  so  noble 
as  I  would  have  made  it. 

We  had  had  the  wit  to  find  out  what  a  fine  engraving  ^ 
that  is  before  your  letter  came  which  pleased  me.  We 
thank  you  most  heartily  for  all. 

I  am  sure  you  would  love  Sir  Alexander.  I  wish  I 
might  call  him  Grant,  man-fashion.  What  a  pleasant 
chronicle  your  letters  always  are. 

The  "  Maid  of  Astolat  "  is  quite  finished  now,  all  but  last 
touches,  I  do  not  think  you  will  find  her  all  unworthy  of 
your  ideal.     A.  is  better  again  and  very  cheerful. 

Good-bye  my  dear  Mr.  Woolner,  all  good  be  with  you. 
Believe  us,  with  Alfred's  love  and  theirs, 
Very  gratefully  and  sincerely  yours, 

A.  E.  H.  L.  Tennyson. 


^  Photograph  of  T.  Woolner. 
2  The  "'  Boadicea  "'  by  Stothard. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Thomas  Carlyle  to  Thomas  Woolner. 

Chelsea, 

March  3,  1859. 
Dear  Woolner, 

I  called  yesterday,  4  to  5  p.m.,  at  the  Studio,  but 
found  nobody — was  proud  I  had  found  the  House  again, 
so  that  I  might  call  another  time. 

I  want  you,  in  the  meanwhile,  to  persuade  the  Secretary 
of  the  Hogarth  Club  (in  some  friendly  way,  for  I  would 
not  hurt  his  feelings  on  any  account)  to  cease  altogether 
sending  me  the  business  letters  &c.  of  that  Institution, — 
to  which  I  wish  honestly  well ;    hoping  always  I  may  look 
at  your  exhibited  works,  or  the  like,  one  day ;    but  do  not 
take  hold  farther,  nor  ever  intend  to  do,  least  of  all  in 
present  circumstances.     Such  letters  are  not  only  a  waste 
of  trouble  and  postage  stamps  to  your  society,  but  there 
is  implied  a  kind  of  untruth  in  the  affair  :    in  short  they 
are  becoming,  in  their  great  frequency  and  miscellaneous 
complexion    (of   which    I   enclose    you   a   specimen    with 
appendix)   an  afflictive  phenomenon  more  or  less;    and 
I  beg  you,  in  a  cunning  silent  way,  stop  them  ! 

When  anything  that  can  interest  a  general  member  of 
the  Community  is  afoot  I  shall  be  happy  to  hear  tell  of  it. 
...... 

Excuse  my  headlong  message  (headlong  form  of  ditto)  : 
I  am  in  more  haste,  and  with  a  heavier  burden  on  my  back, 
than  is  good  for  me  just  now. 

Yours  ever  truly, 

T.  Carlyle. 

The  Hogarth  Club,  formed  in  1856,  consisted  of  a  number 
of  young  men  of  talent  and  genius  in  Literature  and  Art, 
but  more  especially  of  Art,  who  primarily  founded  the  Club 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  their  pictures  and  sculpture. 

1C4 


O    -2 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  165 

In  1860  it  numbered  among  its  honorary  members  such 
names  as  Carlyle,  Tennyson,  Browning,  Thackeray,  Richard 
Owen,  J.  F.  Lewis,  W.  Mulready  and  R.  W.  Emerson. 

Carlyle's  letter  requests  that  no  more  notices  of  the 
Club's  ordinary  proceedings  be  sent  him  ! 

A  Book  of  Club  Rules  and  List  of  Members,  1860,  bound 
in  parchment,  contains  the  names  of  nearly  all  the  inter- 
esting British  artistic  and  literary  men  of  the  time. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.  W., 

March  20  [1859]. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  become  so  disgracefully  dissipated  that  I 
have  been  unable  to  write  to  you  before,  for  last  week  I 
actually  dined  out  four  times  and  had  the  other  evenings 
engaged  out  likewise. 

I  saw  Fairbairn  on  Friday  night  who  is  in  town  for  the 
purpose  of  working  in  the  Sarawak  business ;  the  Rajah 
himself  was  expected  in  town  yesterday. 

•  ••••• 

I  was  at  the  Prinseps'  two  or  three  Sundays  ago  and  was 
asking  Watts  what  he  intended  to  send  to  the  R.A.  Ex  : 
and  I  asked  if  he  meant  to  send  the  Poet's  portrait,  but 
he  said  he  had  no  thought  of  doing  so  for  that  he  thought 
doing  so  would  not  be  agreeable  :  but  I  said  I  imagined  that 
since  he  has  been  so  much  exhibited  already,  I  did  not  think 
he  cared  anything  about  it.  But  I  inwardly  determined 
to  ask  you,  for  I  think  it  a  pity  that  it  should  not  be  seen 
by  the  world,  in  order  to  help  correct  the  base  and  false 
impression  given  by  Brodie's  bust  and  Mayall's  photo- 
graphs :  for  altho'  the  view  of  the  character  chosen  is 
not  what  altogether  satisfies  either  you  or  me,  still  it  is  a 
high  and  noble  work  of  art  and  would  do  a  great  deal  of 
good  in  assisting  public  taste,  and  unless  there  were  any 
real  objection  it  would  be  a  pity  not  to  let  it  be  publicly 
seen.  Will  you  kindly  let  me  know?  then  if  you  and  he 
consent  I  will  tell  Watts. 

My  friend  Watts,  who  wrote  on  India  Heroes  is  going, 
I  grieve  to  say,  to  Australia  again ;  he  has  accepted  an 
appointment  of  £1000  a  year  to  edit  the  Argus.     I  think 


166  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

it  a  pity  for  Watts  to  cast  himself  away  thus,  for  I  think 
him  one  of  the  cleverest  political  writers  we  have. 

I  forget  if  I  told  you  that  I  went  a  short  time  ago  to  see 
Hunt's  picture  and  how  wonderfully  he  is  going  on  with 
it  :  really  every  time  I  see  it  I  think  it  promises  to  be 
greater  than  ever  I  thought  it  before.  I  am  happy  to  say 
that  he  has  quite  resolved  to  exhibit  it  alone  and  not  to 
send  it  to  the  R.A. 

Hoping  that  Hallam  and  the  little  Lion  are  flourishing 
vigorously, 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

March  21. — Yesterday  Fairbairn  and  Novelli  called  at 
my  studio  to  see  the  Rajah's  bust.  They  told  me  of  a 
great  scheme  they  have  on  hand  to  make  an  appeal  to  the 
nation  on  behalf  of  Sir  James  as  the  Government  has  refused 
to  do  anything  for  him. 

I  am  sorry  to  trouble  you,^  but  I  cannot  help  it;  but 
you  who  are  high  up  in  the  world  have  to  undergo  these 
bothers  in  common  course ;  the  high  branches  are  often 
stirred  and  blown  about  while  the  grasses  and  weeds  below 
enjoy  an  enviable  placidity. 

Again  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

March  23,  1859. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

What  a  wicked  woman  I  should  be  if  I  thought 
it  a  trouble  !  Why  is  it  not  a  glory  to  be  able  to  pay  a 
tribute  in  any  way  however  humble  to  a  great  work  and  to 
a  great  man.  I  have  told  Alfred  that  if  you  do  not  hear 
to  the  contrary  before  Sunday,  you  may  conclude  that 
the  portrait  may  be  exhibited  and  that  his  name  may  be 
put  on  the  Committee.  I  entirely  agree  with  what  you 
say  about  the  protrait.  Mr.  Watts  thinks  I  want  a 
particular  expression,   but  it  is  not  that  I  want,   I  only 

^  Request  for  Tennyson  to  sign  the  appeal. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  167 

want  what  has  scarcely  yet  been  given  in  the  world,  the 
man  at  his  highest  stamp  forever  so  long  as  canvas  will 
last.  You  know  the  lines  that  exactly  express  what  I 
do  want  ^  so  I  hope  will  Mr.  Watts  some  day.  Never- 
theless the  portrait  is,  as  you  say,  "  a  high  and  noble  work 
of  art,"  and  it  ought  to  be  known  to  the  world  for  its  own 
sake  and  the  sake  of  the  artist. 

What  you  tell  me  of  the  poor  Rajah's  ^  state  is  sad 
indeed,  sadder  for  us  than  for  him.  He  must  feel  that 
he  has  done  a  good  day's  work.  We  may  well  fear 
that  when  he  is  gone  we  have  none  left  to  do  such 
another. 

What  glorious  friends  you  have,  Fairbairns,  Novellis, 
Brooke  and  others  !  Have  3^ou  quite  perfected  yourself 
in  the  song  ?  I  am  sorry  that  your  W^atts  ^  is  to  leave 
England.     We  cannot  spare  such  men. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

Love  from  the  boys. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Thomas  Carlyle 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.  W., 

March  27  [1859]. 
Dear  Mr.  Carlyle, 

The  Rajah's  address  is — Sir  James  Brooke,  K.C.B., 
Beach  House,  Dawlish,  Devon. 

Mr.  Knox  the  gentleman  who  wrote  the  paper  which 
I  enclosed  says  that  he  knows  nothing  could  possibly 
have  so  cheering  an  effect  upon  the  Rajah  as  your  sym- 
pathy expressed  directly  from  yourself,  as  he  has  more 
respect  for  your  opinion  than  that  of  any  other  person. 
And  I  think  Mr.  Knox  was  more  pleased  to  know  that 

^  "As  when  a  painter,  poring  on  a  face, 

Divinely  through  all  hindrance  iSnds  the  man 
Behind  it,  and  so  paints  him  that  his  face. 
The  shaj)e  and  colour  of  a  mind  and  life. 
Lives  for  his  children,  ever  at  its  best." — Elaine. 

^  Rajah  Brooke. 

^  H.  E.  Watts,  editor  of  the  Argus  in  Australia,  afterwards  a  writer  in 
The  Standard  in  England.  He  was  an  early  friend  of  Woolner's,  and  in 
future  years  became  a  great  friend  of  his  children. 


168  THOMAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 

you  were  going  to  write  to  the  Rajah  than  if  you  had 
allowed  your  name  to  be  on  the  Committee. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street,  N.  W., 

March  27,  1859. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  been  out  from  home  every  evening  and  could 
not  before  thank  you  for  your  kind  notes.  I  went  to 
L.  H.  House  ^  last  evening  and  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing 
the  "  Maid  of  Astolat "  read.  I  think  it  all  that  can  be 
possibly  desired  and  its  completeness  struck  me  equally 
with  its  versatility.  I  think  if  there  is  one  portion  more 
beautiful  than  any  other,  it  is  that  which  was  the  most 
difficult  to  do,  and  which  you  thought  the  only  part  likely 
to  jar  upon  the  modern  mind;  I  mean  that  where  the 
Lily  Maid  herself  makes  love  to  Launcelot  just  before  he 
takes  his  final  leave ;  nothing  could  have  been  more  perfect 
and  nothing  more  sublimely  modest ;  in  fact  I  think  this 
particular  part  a  consummate  triumph  of  poetic  skill ; 
and  this  very  boldness  of  the  girl's  evidently  springs  from 
the  most  absolute  purity  of  heart ;  and  this  with  shadow 
of  doom  that  we  feel  surely  to  be  creeping  over  her,  create 
a  pathos  in  the  hapless  maiden's  favour,  which,  together 
with  the  sense  of  what  Launcelot  loses  in  the  loss  of  her 
love,  actually  are  the  poem. 

I  am  working  fearfully  hard  to  try  and  get  my  Rajah 
done  for  the  R.A.  Ex.  I  do  not  yet  know  if  Fairbairn 
will  like  it  sent  there  :  I  rather  want  it  because  Foley 
is  to  have  the  arrangement  of  the  sculpture  this  year  and 
he  does  me  the  honor  to  think  well  of  my  efforts  :  he 
told  me  that  for  many  years  he  had  felt  nothing  but  disgust 
at  the  way  the  R.  Academy  had  treated  me  :  these  were 
his  actual  words  ;  and  coming  from  an  academician  you  will 
admit  that  I  must  have  been  a  victim  :  and  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  people  praise  my  works;  which  to  old 
stupid  academicians  is  gall  and  wormwood. 

There  was  a  sale  of  pictures  on  Sat :  at  Christie's  of 
which  some  were  lovely. 

^  Little  Holland  House. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  169 

There  was  one  of  the  best  Turner  drawings  I  ever  saw, 
"  Lake  of  Zug,"  a  rising  sun  smiting  the  mists  that  over- 
hang a  blue  valley  of  water  shadowed  by  blue  mountains 
and  transforming  all  the  zenith  cloudlets  into  silver  and 
gold.  I  certainly  should  like  to  be  nabob  enough  to  buy 
just  one  of  Turner's  drawings,  for  there  is  a  charm  in  his 
things  that  attract  me  more  than  the  paintings  of  almost 
any  other  artist. 

Mrs.  Prinsep  had  to  dine  with  Thackeray  last  night, 
and  she  left  early  to  be  back  in  time  for  the  reading  of 
"  Astolat  "  and  she  said  that  the  fierce  old  satirist  was 
snarly  because  she  would  leave,  even  tho'  she  told  him  that 
she  would  and  could  dine  with  him  any  day  throughout 
the  year,  but  that  she  saw  Tennyson  only  on  rare  chances. 

Sir  J.  Simeon  came  to  see  me  on  Friday  and  was  very 
pleased  with  my  Rajah;  and  he  praised  your  med :  very 
much  also ;  he  said  that  at  first  it  did  not  please  him  alto- 
gether, but  that  now  it  did.  I  forget  if  I  told  you  what  a 
fuss  Novelli  and  Fairbairn  made  with  it  and  a  great 
Scindian  Warrior  one  of  Napier's  heroes,  that  he  was  fond 
of  and  who  fought  at  Hyderabad  and  Meanee  said  it  was 
the  most  beautiful  expression  he  ever  saw  on  a  human 
face. 

I  have  Mr.  Norman's  med  :  quite  finished  and  put  into 
its  frame,  which  instead  of  a  red  inner  rim  has  a  deep 
rich  blue  one,  and  I  think  the  effect  superb  :  I  never  tried 
this  colour  before  and  am  so  satisfied  with  the  effect  that 
I  shall  generally  adopt  it  I  think.  I  should  like  you  to 
see  this  med  :  for  I  think  it  is  the  best  piece  of  modelling 
that  I  ever  did.  My  time  is  up  and  I  must  not  gossip  any 
longer  :  I  have  to  snatch  at  a  few  minutes  for  writing  just 
as  a  hungry  horse  might  snap  at  a  stray  twig  or  two  while 
dragging  his  loaded  waggon  along  the  lane. 

i  •  .  .  .  . 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Dr.  Joseph  Hooker  to  Thomas  Woolner 

Royal  Gardens,  Kew, 

April  30,  1859. 

My  dear  Sir, 

A  very  kind  &  liberal  friend  of  science  &  of  my 
Father's,  is  very  anxious  that  there  should  be  executed 


170  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

a  good  portrait  or  bust  of  the   latter,  &  has  requested 
me  to  see  what  can  be  done  in  the  matter. 

There  have  been  many  portraits  executed  of  my  Father 
&  all  more  or  less  failures,  owing  to  his  variable  features,  & 
it  has  struck  me  that  sculpture  might  succeed  better. 
Of  this  I  am  no  judge  myself  &  I  know  of  no  one  to 
whom  I  could  better  apply  than  to  yourself.  Will  you 
kindly  tell  me  whether,  should  my  friends  approve  of 
having  a  bust,  you  would  feel  inclined  to  undertake  it, 
&  upon  what  terms  ?  Perhaps  you  would  like  to  see  the 
subject  first — (it  is  in  many  respects  a  famous  one  for  your 
art)  &  if  so  I  should  be  delighted  to  see  you  here  whenever 
most  convenient  to  you,  &  you  will  always  find  luncheon 
at  1  p.m.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Hooker  desires  her  best  compliments. 

Ever  truly  yrs 

Jos.  D.  Hooker. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street^ 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W., 

May  13  [1859]. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  am  heartily  glad  that  the  poems  are  going  on  : 
I  do  not  understand  much  about  correcting  proof  sheets, 
but  can  scarcely  regard  it  as  such  a  severe  task  and  un- 
poetical  employment  as  you  seem  to  hint  at  :  while  the 
poet  is  down  here  upon  the  earth,  he  must  do  something 
earthly;  and  what  can  touch  more  delicately  upon  it 
than  for  the  poet  to  correct  his  own  immortal  thoughts 
in  that  particular  form  by  which  they  are  to  be  made 
known  to  all  the  world,  and  for  all  time  to  come  ? 

I  am  perfectly  sure  that  those  poems  from  their  very 
greatness  will  be  widely  and  fiercely  abused.  An  original 
poet  always  is  so  with  every  new  work  he  produces  :  men 
make  up  their  minds  upon  works  already  done,  and  a 
new  work  from  the  necessity  of  the  case  disturbs  that 
impression  previously  made.  It  always  was  and  always 
will  be  so.  If  a  poet  produces  works  just  in  the  key  of 
former  works,  the  many  would  applaud  him,  but  the  few 
would  say  that  he  was  growing  mannered  and  declining; 
and  they  would  be  right ;  but  when  he  produces  a  new  work 
the  few  applaud,  the  many  howl,  and  they  are  wrong  : 
but  before  long  the  howl  weakens,  and  by  the  time  another 


1 


{Pliotograpli  by  F.  HolUjer. 
IN    MEMORIAM    G.    B.,     1872 


\_To  face  page  171. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  171 

work  is  ready,  the  howl  has  grown  into  shouts  of  admira- 
tion. I  know  this  from  observing  the  change  of  opinion 
with  regard  to  ''The  Princess"  and  "Maud";  both 
extremely  new  and  unlike  anything  either  he  or  anyone 
had  done  before  :  and  I  confess  that  I  hope  to  see  the  same 
abuse  heaped  upon  these  new  Idylls  for  it  will  be  an 
ominous  sign  when  a  poet's  works  are  at  once  loudly  and 
widely  admitted,  for  then  he  may  say  to  himself  with 
Phocian  "  What  mistake  have  I  committed  ?  "  or  begin 
to  suspect  that  he  has  not  made  an  advance.  Of  course 
I  am  vexed  at  human  creatures  being  so  thoughtless  to 
abuse  what  they  do  not  understand,  and  what  they  ought 
to  profit  from,  and  still  more  hurt  to  know  how  such 
wicked  folly  disturbs  the  maker  of  what  called  it  all  forth ; 
but  I  had  rather  see  him  enraged  than  declining,  and  as  the 
growth  of  greatness  is  ever  accompanied  with  clamour,  I 
say  then  welcome  clamour.  Great  men  have  greater  views, 
are  loftier  and  see  farther  than  other  men;  and  at  the 
same  time  being  taller  and  bigger,  assuredly  they  must 
have  a  greater  stress  of  the  storm  to  bear  than  those  who 
are  far  beneath  them.  But  I  must  leave  off,  or  you  will 
say  I  am  growing  didactic  and  unfitting  myself  for  the 
pursuit  of  art. 

I  cannot  get  on  satisfactorily  with  my  Fairbairn  group, 
for  interruptions ;  I  am  doing  a  med :  of  Mr.  Knox,  a 
splendid  man,  friend  of  Novelli's,  Rajah's,  Fairbairn's  and 
others ;  he  has  a  beautiful  face,  but  I  wish  that  I  had  not 
had  to  do  it  until  the  children  were  finished  :  also  I  have 
commenced  a  bust  of  Sir  William  Hooker  at  Kew;  he 
will  make  a  fine  bust  I  think;  but  he  is  a  difficult  subject ; 
all  artists  hitherto  have  signally  failed,  but  I  do  not  mean  to 
fail  if  I  can  help  it.  They  are  all  charming  persons,  he  and 
Lady  Hooker,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hooker,  and  so  I  hope  to  please 
them  with  the  likeness,  for  they  are  very  anxious  about  it. 

•  ••••• 

You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  the  Rajah  is  getting  better, 
and  his  spirits  improving;  so  after  all  I  begin  to  hope 
that  we  shall  have  the  grand  fellow  with  us  some  few 
years  yet. 

•  ••••• 

My  love  to  the  fine  little  fellows;  tell  them  not  to 
pluck  up  all  the  wild  flowers  from  the  woods  ! 

Very  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


172  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Woolner  went  down  to  Kew  to  model  the  bust  of  Sir 
William  Hooker,  the  famous  botanist,  and  became  great 
friends  with  Dr.  Hooker's  children — Sir  William's  grand- 
children. They  were  allowed  to  watch  the  sculptor  at 
work  and  insisted  the  Bust  ought  to  have  arms  and  hands, 
and  they  were  so  upset  at  there  being  none  that  to  please 
them  he  put  little  hands  sticking  out  of  the  shoulders  ! 
and  then  to  quiet  them  gave  each  a  lump  of  clay  to  try 
and  model  themselves ;  to  pinch  and  punch  the  soft  sub- 
stance is  a  never  failing  pleasure  to  children. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Vernon  Lushington  to  T.  Woolner 

Doctors'  Commons^ 

Tuesday. 

Dear  Woolner, 

Montagu  Butler  a  friend  of  mine  (and  Fellow  of 
Trinity)  has  written  to  me  proposing  that  some  of  us 
Trinity  men  should  join  together,  buy  your  Tennyson  and 
present  it  to  the  College  Library  at  Cambridge.  What  do 
you  say  to  this  ?  Would  you  be  satisfied  with  your  master- 
piece resting  there  to  the  end  of  time  ?  I  think  you  must 
have  seen  our  Library  when  you  went  to  Cambridge 
searching  for  Bacons ;  and  know  otherwise  what  rank  our 
Trinity  College  as  a  place  of  education  has  and  has  long 
had  in  the  sight  of  all  the  land.  Your  Tennyson  if  it  got 
there  would  find  itself  in  company  of  many  distinguished 
heads  by  undistinguished  sculptors ;  also  in  the  presence 
of  Thorwaldsen's  Byron ; — in  some  respects  there  could 
be  no  fitter  home  for  it  than  Trin :  Coll :  as  so  much  of 
Tennyson's  history  is  connected  with  the  place ;  but  on 
the  other  hand  no  one  cares  for  Art  in  Cambridge  and  your 
handiwork  would  seldom  be  beheld  by  any  seeing  eye. 
However  please  think  of  it,  and  write  me  word  as  soon  as 
possible  whether  you  would  agree  to  such  a  destination,  & 
what  price  you  set  upon  your  head.  The  scheme  you  see, 
is  only  just  conceived,  but  I  think  we  might  carry  it  out, 
as  M.  Butler,  tho'  quite  young,  has  much  influence.  .  .  . 

Yours  affy, 
Vernon  Lushington. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

May  25,  1859. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

What  an  interesting  chronicle  your  letters  always 
are  !  I  have  to  go  and  look  after  A.'s  room  and  see  that  it 
is  made  as  comfortable  as  may  be  in  its  unfinished  state 

173 


174  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

for  the  evening.  It  is  a  queer  thing  now  with  ceiling  away, 
for  which  the  builders  excuse  themselves  with  reasons  to 
my  unconstructive  mind  not  good.  In  spite  of  this  A.  pro- 
nounces it  a  charming  room  and  I  quite  agree.  .  .  .  There 
I  am  on  my  third  page  without  having  said  a  word  of  that 
for  which  I  write. 

My  hearty  congratulations,  that  at  last  the  bust  ^  question 
is  settled  for  I  am  sure  it  must  have  been  fretting  you  this 
long  while. 

•  ••••• 

A.  is  gone  to  Brooke.  The  boys  have  just  been  in 
chasing  each  other  with  a  mad  glee  born  of  the  south  wind 
perhaps.  They  are  going  as  they  fancy  to  gather  all  the 
daisies  on  the  Lawn. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

Rutland  Street,  N.W., 

June  15,  1859. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  heard  from  Macmillan  that  he  has  obtained 
possession  of  the  bust  and  now  has  it  safe  in  custody  :  he 
says  in  reply  to  my  regrets  for  troubling  him  so  much  "  The 
trouble  is  nothing  and  the  pleasure  great ;  so  say  no  more 
about  it."  You  see  what  a  good  fellow  he  is.  He  tells 
me  that  after  all  he  believes  the  bust  will  be  placed  in 
either  combination  room  or  the  Master's  Lodge;  so  that 
I  suppose  the  remonstrance  has  produced  fitting  fruit. 

I  heard  last  night  that  he  was  in  town  and  was  dining 
at  the  Prinseps'  on  Sunday  :  I  met  Mrs.  Prinsep  at  Halle's, 
where  I  was  invited  to  hear  him  and  Joaichim  (if  that's 
how  he  spells  it)  play  :  it  assuredly  was  the  most  marvel- 
lous play  that  ever  fascinated  my  hearing,  it  was  more  than 
magical,  it  was  almost  heavenly.  They  played  the  pieces 
of  Beethoven,  and  the  indescribable  agitation,  the  unutter- 
able yearning  reaching  nearly  to  death,  then  the  pause, 
and  then  wild  mad  exultation  of  triumphant  passion  sub- 
siding through  sweet  varieties  into  continuous  tendernesses 
of  melodious  sound,  were  rendered  in  a  way  that  made 
the  listeners  well  nigh  believe  that  the  instruments  had 
vital  souls. 

I  believe  that  these  two  men  are  admitted  to  be  the  best 

^  Bust  of  Tennyson. 


HIS  LIFE   IN  LETTERS  175 

in  the  world  in  their  respective  ways,  and  I  must  say  that 
they  almost  reveal  new  forces  in  nature  it  seems  to  me. 

I  have  just  received  home  my  bust  of  Sir  William  Hooker 
cast  all  safely ;  so  that  now  I  have  no  more  anxiety  upon 
that  matter.^  How  I  wish  that  grim  old  gentleman  Carlyle 
would  let  me  do  his  bust  :  what  a  nuisance  it  is  that  the 
men  who  are  most  worthy  of  being  handed  down  visibly 
to  posterity  are  the  most  hard  to  come  at. 

•  ••••• 

That  lightning  which  I  mentioned  to  you  on  Sunday 
split  a  tree  and  killed  a  man  in  St.  James's  Park. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Edmund  Law  Lushington  to  T.  Woolner 

Park  House, 

.September  5,  1859. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

The  bust^  &  stand  both  have  arrived  quite  safe, 
&  have  been  set  up  in  the  place  that  seemed  best  suited 
for  them,  in  the  drawing  room.  It  is  a  very  beautiful 
work,  &  the  more  one  looks  at  it  the  [more]  surprising 
it  seems  that  you  sh"^.  have  succeeded  in  giving  so  near  a 
likeness. 

I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  pains  you  have  taken 
in  ordering  the  stand  :  Mrs.  A.  T.  is  still  with  us,  I  hope 
rather  better  for  a  little  quiet,  but  far  from  well.  He  has 
returned  from  his  summer  excursion,  &  I  fear  we  are  not 
likely  to  detain  them  much  longer.  .  .  . 

Yours  very  Truly, 

E.  L.  Lushington. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W., 
October  15  [1859]. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

•  ••••• 

I  have  been  back  from  my  country  change  about  a  week 

^  It  was  this  bust  when  carved  in  marble  that  had  the  accident  at  the 
Royal  Academy  in  1860;  it  is  therefore  curious  he  should  have  felt  so 
free  from  anxiety  about  this  particular  bust. 

^  Bust  of  Edward  Henry,  son  of  Professor  Edmund  Lushington. 


176  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

and  have  seen  a  few  friends  and  am  gradually  settling 
down  again  into  a  respectable  working  character;   which 
is  what  I  have  not  been  for  some  weeks ;  my  time  having 
been  employed  taking  walks,  bathing,  shooting  partridges, 
riding,  playing  billiards,  smoking  and  dancing  ! — in  fact 
a  country  gentleman's  life  :    Do  you  not  despise  me  ?  the 
result  of  all  this  dissipation  was  a  robust  state  of  health, 
to  such  a  degree,  that  I  felt  it  in  my  conscience  to  make 
puns. 

•  ••••• 

Last  evening  I  went  and  took  tea  with  the  Carlyles. 
He  was  unusually  well  and  so  pleasant  and  entertaining 
that  I  did  not  leave  him  till  nearly  12  :  he  talked  a  great 
deal  about  snakes  :  and  we  discussed  French  matters  at 
some  length  :  I  was  anxious  to  hear  what  he  thought  of 
the  stupendous  naval  preparations  being  carried  on  over 
the  way  with  such  astounding  rapidity  :  he  does  not  like 
them  at  all  and  thinks  it  means  mischief. 

You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  Mrs.  Carlyle  is  much  better 
than  when  she  left  London  :  she  looks  better  than  I  have 
seen  her  look  for  fully  twelve  months  :  she  had  been  in  a 
great  way  for  some  time  in  consequence  of  a  cart  having 
passed  over  the  neck  of  her  "  Nero  " ;  but  after  a  few 
days  he  recovered  and  her  grief  assuaged.  They  both 
made  very  kind  enquiries  of  you,  but  I  was  not  able  to 
give  such  a  good  account  as  I  wished. 

I  went  on  Sunday  to  see  the  Patmores,  who  were  all 
well ;  he  read  me  some  of  the  parts  of  his  new  poem  which 
were  much  the  same  as  the  former  in  tone  of  thought  and 
subject,  but  for  finish  I  think  they  beat  anything  he  has 
hitherto  done.  He  lent  me  some  poems  by  William  Barnes 
that  he  and  Venables  rave  about  as  being  such  a  mighty 
poet  :  I  have  read  a  few,  and  the  ideas  appear  to  me 
good,  so  far  as  I  can  understand  them  thro'  the  dismal  lingo 
called  Dorset  dialect,  which  he  has  chosen  to  imprison 
them  in  :  and  there  is  a  true  feeling  for  freshness  and 
purity  of  country  air  and  scenery ;  and  a  good  rough  idea 
of  shrewd  humour  that  reminds  one  of  Burns. 

•  ••••* 

I  am,  my  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 
Sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


I 


HIS  LIFE  IN  LETTERS  177 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

October  20,  1859. 
Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

It  was  very  pleasant  to  hear  from  you  again  and  I 
thank  you  for  your  welcome  letter.  I  should  long  ago  have 
written  to  you  had  I  not  been  so  ill  this  summer  that  the 
Doctor  forbad  my  writing. 

•  ••••• 

I  am  inclined  to  think  a  country  gentleman's  life  a  very 
wholesome  one  in  many  ways,  so  to  me  your  holiday 
appears  pleasant  and  good.  I  and  the  boys  spent  all  our 
time  at  the  Lushingtons'  ?•  Days  with  them  have  their  own 
peculiar  charm  to  me  and  this  was  not  wanting,  only  I  was 
not  in  a  state  to  enjoy  it  to  the  full.  The  boys  liked  the 
novelty  of  playfellows  and  got  initiated  in  cricket  and 
other  things. 

The  little  bust  ^  looked  touching  and  beautiful  in  its 
place  and  I  wished  to  have  told  you  so  then.  I  trust  many 
more  beautiful  things  are  in  petto. 

Alfred's  love  and  the  boys'. 
Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

Vernon  Lushington  to  T.  Woolner 

Liverpool, 

November  1,  1859. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

Good  news.  The  mighty  Master  &  his  men  have 
at  last  graciously  condescended  to  accept  your  Master- 
piece &  even  with  thanks.  Into  the  College  Library  itself 
they  won't  allow  it  to  go,  that  being  devoted  to  the 
dead  men,  but  they  offer  to  place  it  in  the  Vestibule  of 
the  Library,  to  be  promoted  we  hope,  in  due  time,  when 
old  Tennyson  himself  is  promoted.  To  this  we  offer  no 
objections,  seeing  no  probability  of  obtaining  better  terms, 
&  wishing  to  have  the  business  settled;  so  into  the 
Vestibule  your  Bust  goes.  What  sort  of  a  place  (this  Ves- 
tibule is,  for  exhibition  purposes,  I  cannot  say,  never 
having  looked    upon   it    in  that   light,    but  simply  as  a 


^  Maidstone. 

2  Marble  bust  by  Woobier  of  the  son  of  Edmund  Lushington. 


N 


178  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Vestibule.  I  am  almost  afraid  it  is  "  for  a  eharnel  dungeon 
fitter,"  but  we  must  make  the  best  of  it.  Could  you  go 
down  to  Cambridge,  next  week,  to  help  them  to  choose  the 
fittest  spot,  and  to  insinuate  your  opinion  as  to  the  most 
proper  kind  of  pedestal  ?  for  it  is  to  be  on  a  pedestal  says 
the  Master.  Your  time  I  know  is  precious  enough,  but  it 
would  be  a  good  &  kind  errand;  &  you  would  receive 
a  hearty  welcome  from  many.  I  return  to  Babylon  this 
evening  :  let  us  meet  soon,  &  hear  of  your  summer  doings, 
&  see  your  worthy  face  again.  What  weather  !  never  do 
I  remember  such  a  grim  stormy  October  :  here  at  Liver- 
pool we  feel  what  storms  mean — brave  men  &  helpless 
women  hurled  to  sudden  death,  sorrow  brought  home  to 
hundreds  of  families — not  without  due  tribulation  do  we 
do  our  business  in  the  great  waters. 

Your  affec.  friend, 

Vernon  Lushington. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

Cambridge, 

November  [1859.] 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

...  I  am  down  here  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the 
Master  1  about  the  bust.  .  .  .  The  greatest  man  of  the  world 
was  pleasant  and  sweet  as  possible  and  agreed  with  every- 
thing I  suggested  concerning  position,  hght,  pedestal  &c. 
The  light,  .  .  .  will  be  favourable  :  and  alt  ho'  not  in  so 
dignified  a  position  as  if  it  were  in  the  Library  itself,  still 
it  will  be  in  a  much  better  light,  and  I  shall  be  perfectly 
satisfied.  There  appears  to  be  a  great  deal  of  interest  con- 
cerning it  among  the  magnates  here.  .  .  .  I  was  talking  with 
a  great  Preacher,  Mr.  Rowlson^  here  this  morning — here 
they  regard  him  as  an  extraordinary  man — and  he  told 
me  that  Gladstone  was  reading  some  of  the  "  Idylls  "  to  a 
few  friends,  he  among  the  number,  and  that  at  one  portion 
both  Gladstone  himself  and  Lord  Granville  .  .  .  burst 
into  tears  before  all  the  company  .  .  .  which  does  show 
that  they  are  susceptible  of  tender  sentiments.  What  a 
charming  man  Clark^  of  Trinity  is  !  He  is  as  courteous  and 
kind  as  any  man  can  be.  Montagu  Butler,  one  of  those 
who  were  most  active  in  the  bust  affair  is  elected  Master 
of  Harrow  :   he  is  the  youngest  they  ever  had  there.  .  .  . 

1  Dr.  Whewell.  2  RoHeston. 

^  The  Public  Orator,  Cambridge. 


GUINIVERE,     1872 


[To  face  page  178. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  179 

Punch,  or  the  London  Charivari.     November  12,  1859. 

THE  LAUREATE'S  BUST  AT  TRINITY.i 

(A  fragment  of  an  Idyll.) 

So  the  stately  bust  abode 
For  many  a  month,  unseen,  among  the  Dons. 
Nor  in  the  lodge,  nor  in  the  library. 
Upon  its  pedestal  appeared,  to  be 
A  mark  for  reverence  of  green  gownsman-hood. 
Of  grief  to  ancient  fogies,  and  reproof 
To  those  who  knew  not  Alfred,  being  hard 
And  narrowed  in  their  honour  to  old  names 
Of  poets,  who  had  vogue  when  they  were  young. 
And  not  admitting  later  bards ;  but  now. 
Last  week,  a  rumour  widely  blown  about. 
Walking  the  windy  circle  of  the  Press, 
Came,  that  stem  Whewell,  with  the  Seniors, 
Who  rule  the  destinies  of  Trinity, 
Had  of  the  sanctuary  barred  access 
Unto  the  bust  of  Alfred  Tennyson, 
By  Woolner  carved,  subscribed  for  by  the  youth 
Who  loved  the  Poet,  hoped  to  see  him  set 
Within  the  Library  of  Trinity, 

One  great  man  more  o'  the  house,  among  the  great, 
WTio  grace  that  still  Valhalla,  ranged  in  row, 
Along  the  chequered  marbles  of  the  floor, 
Two  stately  ranks — to  where  the  fragrant  limes 
Look  thro'  the  far  end  window,  cool  and  green. 
A  band  it  is,  of  high  companionship, — 
Chief,  Newton,  and  the  broad-browed  Verulam, 
And  others  only  less  than  these  in  arts 
Or  science  :  names  that  England  holds  on  high. 
Among  whom,  hoped  the  youth,  would  soon  be  set. 
The  living  likeness  of  a  living  Bard, — 
Great  Alfred  Tennyson,  the  Laureate, 
Whom  Trinity  most  loves  of  living  sons. 
But  other  thought  had  Whewell  and  the  Dons, 
Deeming  such  honour  only  due  to  those 
Upon  whose  greatness  Death  has  set  his  seal. 
So  fixed  their  faces  hard,  and  shut  the  doors 
Upon  the  living  Poet :  for,  said  one, 
"  It  is  too  soon,"  and  when  they  heard  the  phrase, 
Others  caught  up  the  cue,  and  chorussed  it. 
Until,  the  poet  echoing  "  Soon  ?  too  soon  ?  " 
As  if  in  wrath,  Whewell  looked  up,  and  said  : — 
"  0  Laureate,  if  indeed  you  list  to  try. 
Try,  and  unfix  our  purpose  in  the  thing." 
Whereat /w^^  shrilly  sang  th'  excluded  bard, 

"  Soon,  soon,  so  soon  !  Whewell  looks  stem  and  chill, 
Soon,  soon,  so  soon  !   but  I  can  enter  still." 

"  Too  soon,  too  soon  !    You  cannot  enter  now." 


^  Reprinted  by  the  special  permission  of  the  Proprietors  of  Punch. 


180  THOMAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 

"  I  am  not  dead  :  of  that  I  do  repent. 
But  to  my  living  prayer,  oh  now  relent." 

"  Too  soon,  too  soon  !     You  cannot  enter  now." 

"  Honour  in  life  is  sweet :  my  fame  is  wide. 
Let  me  to  stand  at  Dryden's,  Byron's  side." 

"  Too  soon,  too  soon  !     You  cannot  enter  now." 

"  Honour  that  comes  in  life  is  rare  as  sweet ; 
I  cannot  taste  it  long  :  for  life  is  fleet." 

"  No,  no,  too  soon  !     You  cannot  enter  now." 

So  sang  the  Laureate,  while  all  stonily. 

Their  chins  upon  their  hands,  as  men  that  had 

No  entrails  to  be  moved,  sat  the  stem  Dons. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W., 
November  13  [1859]. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  was  going  to  write  to  you  some  time  since  to  tell 
you  that  the  Cambridge  Magnates  had  resolved  on  putting 
the  bust  in  the  Vestibule  of  the  Trinity  Library  but  chancing 
to  meet  Vernon  [Lushington]  accidentally  he  told  me  that 
he  had  already  written  to  apprise  you.  ...  I  think  it  a 
fair  compromise  between  the  original  to  have  it  placed  in 
the  Library  itself  and  the  utter  rejection  of  it  by  Dr. 
Whewell  and  his  brother  Dons ;  .  .  .  I  hope  the  subject 
may  at  last  rest  peacefully,  for  in  all  conscience  from  first 
to  last,  there  has  been  storm  enough  of  one  kind  and 
another  sounding  round  the  marble  head  .  .  .  Palgrave 
I  am  sorry  to  say  still  keeps  unwell  ...  he  came  round 
to  my  room  the  other  evening  to  meet  Holman  Hunt, 
and  they  talked  dreary  semi-archaic-conjectural  lore  anent 
Gospel  evidences  nearly  all  the  time  they  stayed.  .  .  . 

[No  Signature.] 

Thus  the  bust  which  had  caused  so  much  talk  and 
discussion  found  its  resting  place  in  the  vestibule  of 
Trinity  College.  Woolner  carved  replicas  of  this  work, 
one  for  Mr.  Charles  Buxton  and  one  for  Mr.  Charles  Jenner 
of  Easter  Duddingston,  who  on  the  death  of  the  Laureate 
generously  gave  it  to  Hallam  Lord  Tennyson  to  place  in 
Westminster  Abbey,  in  Poets'  Corner. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

November  16,  1859. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

If  you  are  satisfied  we  are,  and  so  now  there  is 
nothing  more  to  be  desired  but  the  advantageous  Hght. 
We  are  sorry  to  hear  about  Mr.  Palgrave.  For  the  most 
part  I  agree  with  you  about  ReHgious  books,  and  yet, 
however  dimly  shadowed,  there  are  ideas  and  truths  in 
Mr.  Maurice's  book  that  can  only  be  ridiculed  because  too 
great  for  the  comprehension  of  the  mocker.  As  a  man 
speaks  of  his  friend  and  so  kindles  an  ardour  of  affection 
in  the  heart  of  another  man  for  the  friend  whom  he  loves 
and  reverences,  so  some  good  men  can  speak  of  Christ  and 
make  Him  seem  more  lovely  than  He  would  otherwise 
do  to  hearts  stranger  or  estranged,  and  this  is  what  we 
want  to  see — Christ  as  it  were  face  to  face — ^to  know  Him 
heart  with  heart.  The  Word  is  the  Word  still  however 
abused  is  it  not  ?  Pardon  me  I  am  as  bad  as  a  religious 
book. 

We  had  Sir  John  Simeon  dining  with  us  the  day  before 
yesterday  and  to-day  he  comes  again  with  Mr.  Charles 
Wynne.  We  have  had  Kingsleys,  Gattys,  and  others 
besides  staying  with  us  and  on  Monday  we  expect  Mrs. 
Cameron  and  her  little  boys. 

The  Kingsleys  were  so  very  pleasant. 
I  wish  you  would  give  Alfred  something  to  do.     He  is 
pretty  well  but  for  want  of  this. 

•  ••••• 

Alfred's  love  and  the  boys'. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 
181 


182  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

You  do  not  tell  me  how  your  work  proceeds  which  is, 
you  know,  always  very  interesting  news  to  us. 


[November  23,  1859.] 

Extract  from  letter  of  T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 
•  •  •  •  •  * 

I  had  a  pleasant  trip  at  Cambridge  or  stay  I  ought  to  say, 
for  the  journey  cannot  be  called  pleasant .  I  was  introduced 
to  Sedgwick  and  had  a  good  long  chat  with  the  patriarch, 
and  I  have  considerable  hope  of  being  able  to  get  the  fine 
old  fellow  to  sit  for  a  bust ;  which  would  be  a  grand  thing, 
as  it  has  rarely  been  my  lot  to  contemplate  so  magnificent 
a  head  as  his.  He  looks  to  have  a  most  powerful  intellect, 
and  his  nature  is  evidently  most  simple  and  natural ;  with 
great  kindness,  broad  generous  humour  and  the  sternest 
dislike  to  rascals.  Clark,  that  delightful  man  says  he 
thinks  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  getting  him  to  sit ;  and 
if  he  succeeds  there  will  be  another  great  man  added  to  my 
gallery.  Sedgwick  expressed  himself  strongly  that  the 
bust  was  not  put  into  the  library  at  once;  thought  it 
absurd  etc.  I  forget  if  I  told  you  that  alt  ho'  not  so  dignified 
in  position  the  bust  would  be  in  a  superior  light  as  regards 
displaying  the  art  of  the  bust ;  which  assuredly  is  what  I 
care  mostly  for.   .  .  . 

I  am  going  on  Saturday  to  stay  Sunday,  back  on  Monday 
morning,  to  Brighton  to  see  Knox,  a  friend  of  Novelli, 
Fairbairn  and  other  of  my  friends ;  he  is  one  of  the  chief 
leader  writers  on  The  Times  and  has  been  ill  for  a  long  time 
poor  fellow,  I  grieve  to  say,  and  as  he  thinks  it  would 
please  him  to  have  a  chat  with  your  humble  servant,  it 
will  be  very  delightful  to  run  down  to  see  him.  .  .  .  Have 
you  heard  of  Frank  Stone's  death  ? 

But  possibly  you  have  not  heard  the  cause.  A  friend  of 
his  told  me  of  it  yesterday.  It  appears  that  he  has  long 
been  troubled  with  heart  disease  and  the  election  of  the 
R.A.  coming  on  he  fell  into  a  most  agitated  state,  fearing 
that  he  might  not  be  made  an  R.A.  As  he  feared,  it  proved ; 
for  a  friend  announced  that  Phillip  was  elected  and  that 
he,  Frank,  had  not  had  one  vote;  this  to  his  poor  weak 
mind  was  the  crack  of  doom ;  his  heart  broke  and  he  went 
home  and  died  straightway.  .  .  . 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner, 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  183 

[The  Autumn  of  1859  ?] 
Extract  from  letter  of  T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

I  went  and  spent  a  long  evening  with  Carlyle  on  Monday 
last  :  he  was  not  in  good  spirits ;  in  fact  he  has  not  been 
at  all  well  since  that  laborious  continental  journey  last 
year,  the  details  of  which  he  told  me,  and  I  do  not  wonder  at 
his  discomfiture.  I  tried  hard  to  persuade  him  to  cut  work 
altogether  for  a  few  months,  on  the  plea  that  it  would  be 
all  the  better  for  his  book,  and  he  confessed  that  he  had 
not  done  so  much  in  three  months  as  he  was  accustomed  to 
do  in  so  many  weeks  when  in  a  higher  tone  of  health.  So 
that  considering  Mrs.  Carlyle  absolutely  needs  country 
air,  for  she  has  been  unwell  for  a  long  time,  and  I  did  not 
see  her  on  that  evening,  I  think  he  will  soon  really  attend 
to  his  health  and  cease  working  for  awhile.  Ruskin  came 
in  while  I  was  there  and  commenced  a  buzz  of  inflated 
rapture  upon  a  piece  of  charlatanry  called  "  Victory," 
by  Marochetti,  now  being  shown  at  Apsley  House;  .  .  . 
Ruskin's  inflation  was  met  in  a  manner  that  I  think  one 
so  utterly  good  and  kind  as  you  could  not  with  your  utmost 
efforts  imagine ;  but  we  certainly  gave  that  conceited 
creature  something  to  reflect  upon.  When  he  was  gone 
we  both  agreed  that  a  man  who  took  Marochetti  as  his 
ideal  sculptor,  Louis  Napoleon  as  his  favourite  king  and 
politician,  and  Spurgeon  for  his  best  beloved  theologian, 
was  certainly  an  unsafe  guide  for  women  and  the  youths  of 
England ;  for  beside  these,  his  trusting  admirers  are  few.  .  . 

Sunday  Night. — I  have  just  returned  from  Slough,  where 
I  passed  a  pleasant  day.  W.  Rossetti  went  also,  and  we 
paid  a  visit  to  classic  Stoke  Pogis,  and  did  the  proper  thing 
by  quoting  "  Ye  distant  spires,  etc  :  "  and  looked  upon 
the  humble  homes  where  "  the  rude  forefathers  of  the 
hamlet  sleep."  It  was  really  a  charming  scene,  rendered 
impressive  by  a  poor  funeral  which  was  performed  at  the 
time  :  we  looked  on  at  distance  till  it  was  done  and  the 
mourners  had  all  dispersed,  when  we  entered  the  graveyard 
and  were  to  some  degree  appalled  by  the  lively  energy  shown 
by  the  gravechgger  and  little  boys  filling  up  the  grave ; 
the  boys  evidently  enjoyed  the  keenest  delight,  and 
worked  with  a  will  that  I  never  before  saw  shown  except 
in  men  digging  for  gold.  I  could  not  avoid  feeling  that 
it  was  in  part  unseemly,  this  wild  haste  to  get  a  fellow 
creature  thoroughly  covered  away  from  sight. 


184  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

I  forgot  to  mention  in  my  last  note,  how  delighted  I  was 
with  the  bold  little  poem  of  *'  Riflemen."  It  has  been  much 
admired,  quoted  and  alluded  to ;  as  well  it  might,  for  it  is 
like  a  gun  booming  of  danger  fast  coming  upon  us.  I  am 
rejoiced  to  find  that  Rifle  Corps  are  being  formed  all  over 
the  country;  not  by  any  means  too  soon,  as  we  may  find 
out  to  our  cost  before  long. 

Believe  me, 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Extract  from  a  letter  of  Woolner's  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

December  5,  1859. 

I  grieve  to  hear  that  the  Poet  is  not  well,  and  most 
sincerely  hope  that  if  a  subject  for  a  poem  will  make  him 
better  that  he  will  soon  succeed  in  pleasing  himself.  I 
wish  I  could  persuade  him  to  do  the  tale  of  the  Sailor  which 
I  told  him  of  years  ago  I  should  think, ^  for  I  think  it  capable 
in  his  hands  of  growing  into  one  of  the  greatest  of  poems, 
alt  ho  told  of  persons  not  princes,  philosophers,  or  chiefs. 
I  daresay  he  has  forgotten  it.  .  .  . 

Extract  from  a  letter  of  William  Allingham  to 

T.  Woolner 

Lane,  Ballyshannon, 

December  21,  1859. 

Tremble  (here  is  an  aphorism  I  make)  when  you  find 
yourself  in  company  with  a  stupid  person,  for  you  know 
not  when  or  how  he  may  injure  you;  and  you  cannot 
defend  yourself. 

Thomas  Combe  ^  to  T.  Woolner 

Oxford, 

December  21,  1859. 
Dear  Sir, 

It  gives  Mrs.  Combe  and  myself  much  pleasure  to 
hear  from  our  mutual  friend  Mr.  Hunt  that  you  assent 
to  accompany  him  to   Oxford  on  Saturday  next.     Hunt 

1  This  story  alluded  to  is  the  story  of  the  Fisherman — written  out  later 
for  the  Laureate  by  Woolner, 

^  Mr.  Combe,  of  the  Clarendon  Press,  was  a  most  kind  friend  of  Woolner's, 
and  he  commissioned  him  to  make  a  bust  of  himself  and  one  of  Dr.  John 
Henry  Newman,  afterwards  Cardinal  Newman. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  185 

is  not  famed  for  his  punctuality,  we  shall  be  glad  to  see 
you  as  early  in  the  day  as  is  convenient,  but  pray  do  not 
be  later  than  four  as  we  dine  at  five  in  order  not  to  inter- 
fere with  the  Meeting  at  Magdalen,  which  I  hope  you  will 
enjoy. 

Yours  faithfully. 

The.  Combe. 

Edward  Lear  to  T.  Woolner 

9^'"  V.  Condotti,  Roma, 

February  16,  1860. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

o  my  deerunkel  ^ — Mr.  Edward  Wilson  has  brought 
me  your  letter  of  Jany  19th  this  afternoon,  at  4  p.m. 
So  I  walked  round  the  Borghese  villa  with  him,  &  thought 
him  a  very  nice  fellow; — &  if  he  hadn't  been  so,  I  should 
have  seen  what  I  could  of  him  :  for  your  sake  unkel.  I  have 
asked  him  to  dine  tomorrow,  tete-a-tete,  &  shall  feed  him 
with  stewed  beef  &  maccaroni  &  you  may  depend  on  my 
doing  all  I  can  for  him,  as  far  as  my  little  possible  goes. 
For  in  10  days  (his  limit  of  time  here)  much  cannot  be  done. 
With  regard  to  Naples  &  other  parts  of  Hitterly,  I  fear 
I  can  do  less.  .  .  .  Tell  my  pa  he  is  a  nasty  unnatural 
old  brute  of  a  parient,  as  lets  his  own  flesh  &  blood  pine  & 
fret  away  in  furrin  parts,  without  his  never  writing  nothink 
to  them.  I  am  immensely  glad  you  give  such  a  good 
account  of  dead  Daddy — &  long  to  hear  of  the  picture  being 
finished.  I  approve  of  both  your  dancings,  ...  a  couple 
of  little  apes  as  you  both  of  you  be  !  For  all  that  I  wish 
you  were  both  of  you  here.  I  really  do  wish  you  could 
come  before  I  go  hence  and  am  no  more  seen  in  Rome,  for 
I  hate  the  place  more  &  more  &  more  &  more.  I  heard  of 
your  being  at  Farringford  from  Mrs.  Tennyson.  .  .  .  Don't 
you  delight  in  Tithonus  ?  I  am  glad  you  went  over  to 
Swainston  :  Sir  J.  Simeon  has  done  himself  &  his  religion 
credit  by  his  good  &  manly  letter.  Thank  you  for  what 
you  say  of  my  pictures  :  it  is  a  really  great  pleasure  to 
know  that  Fairbairn  likes  his  Petra  so  much.  .  .  .  Dear 
me  !  I  wish  you  could  come  out  here  for  a  little  time  .  . 
you  might  see  all  Rome  so  quietly  as  you  never  would  have 
another  roppertunity  of  doing.     So  might  Pa.     I  am  glad 

^  Edward  Lear  called  Woolner  his   "  unkel,"  and  Holman  Hunt  his 
*'  pa  "  and  his  "  Daddy  "  !     Edward  Lear  was  much  their  senior. 


186 


THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 


to  hear  of  your  doing  Sir  W.  Hooker  &  Sedgwick  .  .  .  my 
plans  are  much  changed  since  I  came  here,  and  I  find  I 
must  put  off  Palestine  till  Autumn.  And  thus  I  am  going 
on  with  paintings  of  Palermo,  Dead  Sea,  Parnassus.  .  .  . 
Beirut,  &  Damascus,  with  some  drawings, — But  I  also  wish 
to  paint  the  Seeders  of  Lebanon  from  the  big  Seeders  at 
Sir  J.  Simeon's  before  I  come  to  town.  I  am  convinced  of 
this  :  a  man  cannot  too  perpetually  &  too  wiggorously 
keep  a  beginning  &  a  setting  forth  of  new  themes  for  work  : 
if  so  be  he  goes  on  to  finish  them.  After  I've  done  all  the 
above  toppicks,  I  trust  to  go  to  Jerusalem  &  after  that 
perhaps  to  the  troppicle  regents,  &  the  Specific  highlands 
and  never  comes  a  Hewropean  trader  &  a  lustrous  creeper 


UnJ»l  y^ 


tn^ 


in  a  flag  sliding  over  summer  trailers  which  accounts  for  the 
same. 

O  my  belovydUnkel,  my  eyes  are  tired  with  the  light, 
and  my  'ed  is  a  akin  :  so  I  can't  right  any  maw,  beinng  half 
asleep.  Give  my  love  to  my  dear  pa,  &  to  Brother  Bob 
Martineau,  &  to  my  Grandfather  Maddox  Brown,  which 
I  always  keep  seeing  his  picture  of  "  Work  "  before  me. — (o 


my!) 


Good-bye  my  dear  boy.     I  am  truly  glad  you 


are  going  on  so  well.     Write  me  a  line  by  post  some  day 
for  it  is  a  pleasure  to  hear  of  you. 

And  believe  me. 
Dear  Woolner, 
Yours   affly. 

Edward  Lear. 


Do  write  &  send  me  the  address  of  your  Studio. — I  hope 
though,  you'll  get  a  block  of  marble  for  the  little  Fairbairns 
soon. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  187 

Woolner  having  received  a  commission  to  do  the  bust  of 
Professor  Adam  Sedgwick,  the  geologist — the  Professor 
wrote  to  suggest  dates  for  the  sittings  to  take  place. 

Professor  Sedgwick  to  T.  Woolner 

Trinity  College, 

February  24,  1860. 

Dear  Sir, 

It  was  not  without  extreme  reluctance  that  I  con- 
sented to  sit.  Not  that  I  was  insensible  to  the  honour  my 
friends  intended  me,  but  I  did  not  like  to  put  them  to  so 
much  cost  :  &  perhaps  I  was  selfish  in  my  reluctance,  as  I 
do  not  much  like  the  kind  of  durance  that  is  inflicted  in  a 
sitting.  Clark  told  me  (if  I  mistake  not)  that  you  were 
willing  to  come  down  to  Cambridge,  &  that  the  work,  while 
I  was  "  in  the  stocks  "  might  be  gone  thro'  at  Cambridge. 
If  so,  I  am  at  this  moment  ready ;  and  I  only  wish  you  had 
a  better  block  to  work  upon.  It  will  be  hard  for  you  to 
turn  my  old,  withered,  wooden  face  to  good  account. 
But  this  is  your  look  out  &  not  mine.  But  if  it  do  not  fall 
in  with  your  arrangements  to  be  so  long  at  Cambridge 
I  must  put  off  the  sitting  till  the  warmer  weather  of  spring 
when  I  may  come  up  to  London  &  attend  your  appointment 
in  your  own  Studio.  The  worst  of  it  is,  that  during  all  the 
spring  months  I  am  in  the  possession  of  that  vile  adhesive 
fiend,  suppressed  gout ;  &  that  I  continue  a  perfect  model 
of  melancholy  or  vile  temper.  I  have  no  hopes  of  escape 
from  this  annual  &  most  unwelcome  visit.  .  .  . 

I  am.  Dear  Sir, 

Very  truly  yours, 

A.  Sedgwick. 

Besides  the  irksomeness  of  sitting,  the  great  geologist 
felt  a  terror  at  first  of  having  his  bust  done — thinking  he 
had  to  lie  on  the  floor  and  have  the  liquid  plaster  of  Paris 
poured  over  his  face  !  and  his  relief  and  satisfaction  were 
great  when  the  sculptor  told  him  he  had  only  to  sit  in  a 
chair  and  chat.  During  the  taking  of  the  portrait  the 
sitter  and  artist  became  very  good  friends.  There  is  rather 
an  amusing  anecdote  in  connection  with  this  bust .  Under 
the  marble  bust  is  a  space  where  the  name  is  usually  cut  in, 
but  in  this  bust  Woolner  had  carved  there  also  a  fossil 


188  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

fish,  one  of  the  Professor's  discoveries — a  lady  coming  one 
day  to  the  studio  to  see  the  work  exclaimed  :  "  How  lucky 
Mr.  Woolner,  there  should  happen  to  be  the  fossil  in  that 
particular  bit  of  marble  !  "  ^ 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.  W., 
February  26,  1860. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

...  I  was  to  have  gone  to  Mr.  Jowett  next  Sunday 
but  instead  have  to  go  next  week  to  Cambridge  to  begin 
Prof :  Sedgwick  .  .  .  the  Professor  is  so  old  and  subject 
to  illnesses  that  it  was  thought  by  his  friends  highly  desira- 
ble I  should  lose  no  time  in  doing  him.  My  bust  of  Sir 
W.  Hooker  is  now  done  and  it  appears  to  please  the  judges 
who  have  seen  it  in  an  extraordinary  manner  : — Sir  C. 
Eastlake  says  that  this  bust  settles  the  question  of  color 
and  statuary ;  that  when  marble  is  wrought  to  such  a  point 
of  perfection  it  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired — and  that 
when  he  looks  at  it  he  forgets  that  it  is  marble  and  can  think 
of  nothing  but  the  man.  This  coming  from  such  a  high 
official  authority  who  is  always  considered  particularly 
chary  of  praise  is  of  value.  .  .  .  The  Trevelyans  called 
on  me  the  other  day ;  and  fortunately  I  had  done  some- 
thing considerable  to  their  group.  .  .  .  My  love  to  the 
Poet ;  tell  him  that  Fairbairn  says  "  Tithonus  "  is  one 
of  the  greatest  poems  in  the  world,  and  one  of  the  most 
perfect.  .  .  . 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

Trinity  College, 

Cambridge, 

March  21,  1860. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  managed  the  old  gentleman's  head  at  last,^ 
which  will  be  finished  or  nearly  so  tomorrow.  Everyone 
who  has  seen  it  declares  it  most  successful,  and  the  enthusi- 
asm expressed  is  all  I  can  possibly  desire.  It  certainly  was 
a  tough  job,  and  has  taken  about  a  week  longer  than  I 

^  The  fossil  was  the  Areolepis  Sedgwickii.  ^  Professor  Sedgwick. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  189 

calculated  :  I  have  now  to  do  a  medallion  of  Clark  before 
I  return  to  town.  ...  I  know  you  will  like  Clark  very 
much  :  I  have  known  but  very  few  men  I  like  so  well,  and 
here  his  popularity  is  quite  next  to  Sedgwick  himself.  .  .  . 
I  went  to-day  to  see  the  University  boat  pull  fast ;  they 
are  now  in  training  for  the  great  match  to  come  off  between 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  on  the  31^*-  It  was  a  truly  beauti- 
ful sight  to  see  the  8  strong  young  men  pull  together  so 
perfectly  that  it  looked  like  one  creature,  and  the  boat  like 
one  life.  .  .  . 

[Signature  missing.] 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W., 
April  11,  1860. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

•  •  • 

I  will  not  stultify  my  own  counsel  by  giving  you  work  to 
read  much  writing  and  will  only  say  how  greatly  Clark  was 
delighted  with  his  visit,  which  would  have  been  an  abso- 
lutely perfect  joy  if  it  had  not  been  shadowed  by  knowing 
how  unwell  you  were. 

I  hope  the  dear  little  boys  are  getting  rid  of  their  enemy, 
for  it  grieves  my  heart  to  see  them  imprisoned  like  chickens 
under  a  coop — but  the  approaching  warm  weather  will 
be  their  friend. 

I  entreat  you  not  on  any  account  to  write  back  until  you 
are  quite  well  again.  My  best  love  to  the  Poet — ^tell  him  I 
will  try  and  write  out  the  points  of  that  Sailor's  story  .^ 

With  kindest  wishes, 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

April  27,  1860. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  could  scarcely  help  crying  when  I  heard  of  your 
irreparable  loss,^  not  your  loss  only,  but  all  people's. 

1  The  story  of  "  The  Fisherman." 

2  The  deplorable  accident  at  the  Royal  Academy,  when  the  nose  of 
the  marble  bust  of  Sir  William  Hooker  was  broken. 


190  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

A.  is  quite  pleased  to  see  how  neat  the  new  gardener  has 
made  a  great  part  of  the  kitchen-garden  and  besides  he 
allows  A.  to  dig,  a  delight  forbidden  by  Merwood,  and  to  be 
told  that  you  are  doing  a  great  deal  of  good  instead  of  mis- 
chief is  a  pleasant  change  indeed  !  I  won't  write  more,  but 
I  cannot  help  telling  you  that  I  cannot  get  your  loss  out  of 
my  mind,  though  alas  this  will  not  repair  it. 

Dr.  Joseph  Hooker  to  T.  Woolner 

Royal  Gardens,  Kew, 

Thursday  [May  I860]. 

My  dear  Woolner 

I  am  deeply  concerned  to  hear  of  the  grievous 
disaster  that  has  befallen  you — much  more  I  assure  you 
my  dear  fellow  for  your  own  sake  than  for  that  of  the  bust. 
Your  fame  is  secure,  come  what  may  of  thai,  &  though  my 
Barometer  of  sympathy  rises  to  "  high  disappointment  "  on 
the  score  of  so  splendid  a  rendering  of  my  Dad  being 
spoiled,  that  is  nothing  to  the  depth  of  sympathy  with  you 
to  which  it  falls.  As  to  my  thermometer  it  is  smashed, 
having  bolted  up  far  above  Passion  point  on  reading  the 
conclusion  of  your  note.  That  such  an  accident  should 
have  occurred  is  bad  enough,  but  through  carelessness,  & 
with  such  an  insult  coupled  is  beyond  all  sufferance. 

Come  on  Sunday  my  good  Woolner  &  mind  you  &  Novelli 
stay  over  dinner.  .  .  . 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

Jos.  D.  Hooker. 

Mrs.  Joseph  Hooker  to  T.  Woolner. 

[May  I860.] 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  must  put  a  few  lines  in  Joseph's  envelope  to  tell 
you  how  very  sorry  I  am  to  hear  of  the  misfortune  which 
has  occurred  to  you.  I  am  thoroughly  indignant,  so  much 
that  I  feel  quite  glad  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  see 
the  Academy  this  year.  I  don't  think  I  could  enter  the 
rooms  with  any  degree  of  patience.  It  is  really  too  bad,  & 
the  impossibility  of  getting  redress  makes  it  more  insup- 
portable. I  am  really  very,  very  much  grieved  for  you, 
to  have  all  the  labor  of  so  many  months  ruined  it  seems 
as  if  no  indignation  could  be  too  great  to  bestow  on  those 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  191 

horrid  Academicians.  I  hope  Sunday  will  be  a  fine  day, 
&  a  little  warmer  than  it  is  now. 

Ever  yrs  sincerely, 

Frances  Hooker. 

These  letters  show  the  intense  sympathy  felt  for  the 
sculptor  in  the  damage  to  a  work  thought  so  highly  of  by 
judges  of  Art. 

Lady  Hooker  ^  to  T.  Woolner. 

Royal  Gardens,  Kew,  IF., 

May  1  [I860.] 

Dear  Sir, 

I  hardlv  know  how  to  thank  vou  for  vour  kind  gift — 

..  ^  ^  CD 

so  beautiful  in  itself,  &  so  specially  interesting  to  me.  I 
should  have  liked  to  make  my  acknowledgements  in  person, 
but  you  know,  I  daresay,  that  I  am  wholly  laid  up,  unable 
for  the  last  half  year  or  more  to  stand  alone — much  less 
to  walk  :  in  fact,  come  as  I  tell  my  husband,  to  my  2nd, 
childhood.  Most  indignant  have  I  felt  at  the  cruel  careless- 
ness with  which  your  laborious  &  beautiful  work,  of  Sir 
Wm.  Hooker's  bust,  has  been  mutilated.  It  strikes  me 
that  nothing  would  so  much  induce  the  Royal  Academicians 
to  make  you  good  amends,  as  your  expressing  a  determina- 
tion to  exhibit  it,  the  bust  without  a  nose.  They  could 
not  refuse  this  : — &  I  will  venture  to  say  that  no  sculptor's 
work  would  attract  such  attention  as  yours  !  Public 
notice  would  be  the  more  called  to  the  beauty  of  the  still 
perfect  portion.  And,  after  all,  the  Elgin  marbles  have 
well  accustomed  spectators  to  this  special  deficiency  :  so 
that  the  loss  of  the  nose  no  longer  looks  grotesque,  but  a 
mark  of  the  real  antique ! — I  hardly  think  however  that 
the  officials  of  the  Royal  Academy  would  welcome  such  a 
semblance  of  the  chisel  of  Phidias  or  Praxiteles. 

I  am  very  much  yrs. 

iilARiA  Hooker. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 


My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 


27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W., 
May  2,  1860. 


The  disaster  to  my  bust  of  Hooker  has  caused  an  extra- 
^  Wife  of  Sir  William  Hooker. 


192 


THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 


ordinary  amount  of  sorrow  and  indignation;  one  would 
almost  fancy  that  it  had  been  some  great  man  killed  thro' 
shameful  negligence,  instead  of  a  mere  piece  of  marble 
work  destroyed.  It  is  a  most  lamentable  loss  to  me,  for 
I  think  that  I  have  received  higher  praise  for  this  than  for 
anything  I  have  done.  I  patched  up  the  nose  with  borax 
for  the  R.A.  Ex  :  for  I  thought  they  might  as  well  have  the 
benefit  of  their  own  handiwork  for  the  season ;  yesterday  I 
received  a  note  from  Millais  saying  that  the  mending  did 
not  show  in  the  least ;  if  so,  then  of  course,  whatever  merits 
there  are  must  be  partially  concealed  likewise ;  he  said  the 
bust  was  ''  MOST  EXQUISITE  "  Underlined  twice,  "  marvel- 
lously finished,"  and  ''  the  best  thing  "  he  had  seen;  then 
as  a  climax,  said  he  liked  it  "  better  than  Tennyson's." 

A  great  deal  of  my  time  is  occupied  during  the  evenings 
answering  letters  of  sympathy ;  for  the  affair  seems  to  have 
spread  wonderfully  fast ;  and  from  what  people  say  I  think 
if  the  R.A.  persist  in  refusing  to  pay  the  price  of  the  bust 
that  it  will  do  them  a  great  deal  of  harm. 

Novelli,  Hunt,  Palgrave  and  I  went  to  Kew  and  spent  the 
afternoon  and  evening  with  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hooker,  spending 
a  pleasant  time  as  you  may  suppose  in  such  good  society. 
The  gardens  are  beginning  to  look  cheery  and  bright. 

[Signature  missing.] 


[Photograph  by  L.  Caswall-Smith. 

"  FEEDING    THE    HUNGRY  " 

One  of  the  bas-reliefs  on  the  Wigton  Fountain.     Tlie  central  figure  is  a  portrait  of  the 

sculptor's  wife. 


{To  face  page  193. 


CHAPTER  X 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W., 

May  17,  1860. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

.  .  .  Yesterday  I  had  to  go  and  see  a  cast  taken  of 
the  left  hand  of  Lady  Noel  Byron,  wife  of  the  poet.  The 
summons  said  it  was  essential  that  an  honorable  man 
should  do  it,  or  I  should  not  have  been  troubled.  I  do 
not  much  like  taking  casts  of  any  one  dead,  but  could  not 
refuse  in  this  case,  as  I  know  so  many  of  their  friends.  But 
I  am  glad  I  did  go,  for  a  nobler  sight  I  never  saw — she 
looked  as  if  she  were  living,  and  had  just  dropped  to  sleep, 
and  as  proud  as  a  queen  in  all  her  splendour.  I  think 
there  never  was  anything  finer  than  her  brow  and  nose. 
.  .  .  She  seems  to  have  been  almost  adored  by  those 
about  her.  .  .  .  By  a  happy  fluke  I  discovered  the  name 
of  the  little  bird  mentioned  in  "  Elaine  "  as  making  the 
ear  weary  by  repetition  of  one  particular  passage  of  notes. 
It  is  the  "  Willow  Wren,"  and  begins  to  sing  in  April. 
Be  so  good  as  to  tell  this  to  your  Husband  and  it  will 
rejoice  his  un-ornithological  heart.  I  went  and  spent  last 
Sunday  with  Patmore  at  Finchley,  and  read  part  of  his 
new  poem,  which  is  remarkably  good  in  execution,  and  I 
think  very  original  in  idea.  Perhaps  you  know  that  the 
Angel  has  been  granted  the  heavenly  gift  of  another  male 
cherub,  which  is  No.  6.  .  .  .  You  must  have  heard  of  the 
prodigious  success  of  Hunt's  picture  ^  in  a  popular  sense, 
nothing  like  it  in  modern  times  .  .  .  it  is  so  unusual  that  a 
fashionable  public  goes  mad  about  anything  more  dignified 
than  a  Crystal  Palace,  crinoline  or  a  Railway  King.  .  .  . 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

1  "  The  Finding  of  Christ  in  the  Temple." 
O  193 


194  THOMAS   WOOLXER,   R.A. 

T.  WooLXER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  Is.W., 

June  24,  1860. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  went  to  see  the  Review  yesterday,  and  was  rather 
amused  to  see  the  extraordinary  popularity  of  the  move- 
ment :  Hyde  Park  was  nearly  full ;  the  trees  were  full  of 
men  and  boys;  vou  never  saw  such  unlovelv  fruit,  some 
of  which  were  too  ripe  and  fell  to  the  ground  bringing  big 
branches  vdt\\  them  :  the  surrounding  houses  and  bal- 
conies and  roofs  were  full;  all  the  adjacent  streets  were 
full  and  a  \dvid  fever  of  excitement  I  am  told  pervaded 
the  whole  of  London.  I  was  with  an  Indian  Officer  who  was 
with  Sir  Hugh  Rose  in  his  campaign,  and  when  the  guns 
began  to  boom  at  the  Queen's  approach,  I  asked  him  if 
the  sound  did  not  make  him  feel  very  much  at  home  : 
for  I  think  I  never  saw  a  man  look  so  pleased ;  it  brought 
to  mind  his  battles,  and  he  told  me  of  them  with  a  delight 
and  ecstasy  that  made  me  think  war  could  not  be  so  bad 
as  it  looked,  to  the  warriors ;  and  although  he  was  wounded 
fearfully,  he  regarded  the  wounds  as  trifles  compared  to  the 
delightful  excitement  of  battle  :  he  is  a  direct  descendant 
from  Dr.  Donne,  the  old  poet. 

I  am  going  to  Oxford  on  Tuesday  for  the  R.  Association, 
my  address  there  will  be  Thos.  Combe,  Esq.,  Clarendon 
Press.  I  suppose  I  shall  stay  a  week,  partly  with  him  and 
wath  Jowett.  I  do  not  much  wish  to  see  the  ceremonies, 
but  Hunt  engaged  a  long  time  ago  for  me  without  con- 
sulting me  in  the  least,  so  I  was  obliged  to  go ;  and  going 
is  no  great  harm,  for  I  do  about  as  much  work  in  a  week 
as  I  ought  to  do  in  an  hour,  if  I  were  in  a  fitting  state  for 
work.  Woodward  wants  me  to  take  my  design  for  the 
doorway  down,  and  intimates  that  he  thinks  after  all  they 
will  be  forced  to  have  it : — I  suppose  for  this  simple  reason, 
that  they  are  not  able  with  all  their  learning  to  suggest  a 
better  subject. 

I  want  sadly  to  get  on  with  the  Trevelyans'  Group,  but 
the  want  of  a  fitting  face  so  checks  me  that  I  cannot  get 
up  any  interest  for  it. 

I  hoped  to  have  this  Sunday  all  to  myself,  but  last  night 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  195 

on  arriving  found  a  note  from  Novelli  asking  me  to  his 
house  in  the  hope  that  he  shall  get  Clark,  for  us  to  talk 
matters  over,  I  suppose  connected  with  the  Macaulay's 
and  Hallam's  statues  :  but  my  impression  is,  that  altho' 
I  have  friends  on  both  committees,  Marochetti  has 
more. 

How  long  will  you  remain  at  Farringford  ?  Because  I 
should  exceedingly  like  to  run  down  just  to  see  you,  for 
when  I  was  last  down  I  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  seen 
you ;  .  .  .  The  chief  drag  I  have  on  my  wheel  now  is  the 
bust  of  William  Fairbairn ;  for  I  am  sorry  to  say  the  fine 
old  gentleman  is  not  strict  in  keeping  his  engagements,  and 
has  kept  me  waiting  many  times  without  any  fruit  what- 
ever, and  I  cannot  get  on  with  the  work  at  all ;  and  the 
only  reason  why  I  can  go  to  Oxford  is  that  he  is  going  too, 
and  I  can  be  sure  he  will  not  be  able  to  sit. 

My  love  to  the  Poet  and  the  boys. 

•  ••••• 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  thankful  I  am  for  your  letters  : 
your  last  I  keep  always  with  me  and  read  in  choice 
moments;  as  one  would  look  at  a  beautiful  locket  minia- 
ture, always  in  some  strange  way  hoping  to  get  nearer  the 
spirit  of  what  the  picture  speaks  of. 

Ever  sincerely  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Robert  Browning  to  T.  Woolner 

Florence,  June  15,  1860. 
Dear  Woolner, 

I  happen  to  have  an  occasion  of  sending  to  Eng- 
land— I  was  your  debtor  for  a  long,  kind — most  welcome 
letter,  introducing  Mr.  Wilson  to  us.  I  don't  write  often, 
&  may  easily  do  myself  great  injustice,  but  not,  I  really 
think,  in  your  mind — so  fresh  is  its  kindness  in  my  memory. 
I  follow  your  career  with  true  delight,  as  I  see  one  work 
succeed  another  in  the  registry  of  the  newspapers — but 
I  need  no  assurance  of  your  genius. 

Will  you  like  to  have,  for  our  sakes,  these  photographs, 
just  done  in  Rome  ?  The  horseman  is  Pen  on  his  pony, 
from  a  capital  little  painting  by  Hamilton  Wild,  an 
American  artist  of  achievement  &  promise  besides. 

We  have  just  returned  from  Rome — and  go  presently  to 


196  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Siena  for  the  hot  months.  .  .  .  There  is  no  England  for  us 
this  year — but  next  year,  if  all  goes  as  we  hope,  you  will 
see  us  again.  Meanwhile  be  sure  of  the  true  regard  of  my 
wife  &  of  yours  most  sincerely  ever 

Robert  Browning. 

You  will  find  the  photographs  left  for  you  at  Chapman's, 
193  Piccadilly. 

Edward  Lear  to  T.  Woolner 

15,  Stratford  Place,  W., 

June  25,  1860. 
My  dear  Uncle, 

Which  your  letter  of  April  9  was  very  welcome  & 
should  have  been  replied  to  b4,  only  it  came  when  I  was 
all  in  a  bussel  a  leaving  Rome — I  tried  to  get  to  you  yester- 
day— but  only  reached  Mrs.  Martineau's  house  before  it 
was  too  late  to  retrace  my  steps  : — but  some  day  I  shall 

hope  to  come  &  look  you  up,  &  mean- 
while if  you  are  passing  here,  I  am 
full  of  small  unfinished  works,  some  of 
which  might  interest  you,  particklar 
2  views  of  Palermo,  with  portraits  of 
Garibaldi  in  the  foreground,  as  I  am 
on  the  point  of  taking  up  &  down 
Bond  St.  with  a  box  for  shillings. 

I  saw  Edward  Wilson  a  day  or  two 
ago.  My  father  ^  I  have  seen  several 
times,  &  am  as  glad  of  his  success  as  if  I  had  got  double 
myself.  He  is  a  blessed  old  parient  he  is.  The  best 
criticism  I  have  yet  heard  on  his  picture  ^  was  last  week, 
when  a  very  fine  gentleman  objected  to  the  ''  commonplace 
air  "  of  the  Virgin  &  added  ''  No  well-bred  woman  would 
ever  enter  a  room  in  such  a  jussy  manner." — This, 
however  absurd, — is  really  a  fact. 

I  have  been  some  days  at  Farringford  with  F.  Lushington. 
All  are  pretty  well  there,  Mrs.  A.  better  than  I  had  expected. 
Mrs.  Cameron  absolutely  sent  up  a  grand  piano  by  8  men 
from  her  house  for  me  to  sing  at  !!!!!!! 

W.  G.  Clark  was  at  a  fish  dinner  on  Fry  day  last  at 
Grinidge.  I  hear  you  suffered  brutally  from  the  R.A. 
porters,   as    to   Sedgwick's    bust.^     What    are    you    now 

1  W.  Holman  Hunt.  ^  »  The  Finding  of  Clirist  in  the  Temple." 

^  Bust  of  Sir  William  Hooker,  not  Sedgwick. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  197 

about  ?    I  write  in  haste  :    but  thank  you  for  your  letter 
nevertheless. 

Yrs.  sincerely, 

Edward  Lear. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W., 

Wednesday,  July  25,  1860. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  Carlyle  is  sadly  knocked 
up  with  this  hateful  weather  and  hard  work.  I  was  to 
have  taken  the  Rajah  to  him  last  evening,  but  the  Rajah 
having  a  bad  cold  dared  not  go  out,  so  I  went  alone. 
Carlyle  is  going  next  w^eek  to  the  most  northerly  point  of 
Scotland  to  stay  with  Sir  Something  Sinclair,  and  thinks 
2  months  of  doing  nothing  may  set  him  up  again.  He  was 
wonderfully  kind  and  tender  in  his  manner.  Mrs.  Carlyle 
is  much  better  than  I  have  seen  her  for  a  long  time. 

The  Rajah  is  much  stronger  than  he  w^as  this  time  last 
year ;  and  he  tells  me  his  relations  with  the  English  Govern- 
ment are  more  satisfactory  than  they  had  been  for  a  long 
time  before  and  he  seems  hopeful.  He  likes  Hunt's  picture 
and  Darwin's  book  exceedingly. 

I  went  on  Saturday  to  spend  Sunday  at  the  Prescotts' 
and  there  w^ere  a  pleasant  party — Brookfield,  Venables, 
Lord  Overstone,  Hunt,  Dean  Trench  and  others.  Venables 
and  I  went  two  long  walks  on  Sunday  and  he  was  very 
pleasant,  and  really  interesting.  You  know,  alt  ho'  he  is 
such  an  honourable  truthful  man,  he  does  not  often  con- 
descend to  be  very  agreeable  to  any  but  his  old  friends ; 
therefore  I  considered  myself  fortunate. 

[No  signature.] 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Grasby, 
August  18,  1860. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  have  written  to  A.  how  it  rained  and  how  we  were 
deluded  yesterday,  but  I  must  not  let  the  post  go  without 
a  few  words  of  thanks  for  all  your  goodness,  the  crowning 


198  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

act  with  which  I  hold  the  giving  up  your  work  to  go  with 
A.     May  the  journey  ^  be  fabulously  delightful  to  both  ! 

All  best  wishes  for  you.     When  I  am  a  little  rested  I  shall 
begin  the  poem,  to  be  ready  to  give  it  up  when  required. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  F.  T.  Palgrave 

Bideford, 
Tuesday,  August,  1860. 

My  dear  Palgrave, 

I  am  deputed  to  write  and  say  that  you  must  be 
at  Tintagel  instead  of  Penzance,  if  you  please,  by  Friday 
or  thereabouts;  at  any  rate  we  shall  remain  there  until 
you  come.  .  .  . 

Excuse  this  being  so  badly  written  I  mean  as  to  forms 
of  letters  not  to  composition,  I  let  that  take  its  chance, 
for  there  is  a  waiter  dodging  and  fidgetting  around  me  and 
makes  my  nerves  as  irritable  as  a  bee  tied  up  in  a  bottle.  .  .  . 

Thine  ever, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

Tintagel,  Cornwall, 

August  25,  1860. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

Palgrave  arrived  this  afternoon,  and  I  was  going  back 
in  his  fly  to  Launceston,  indeed  had  my  things  packed, 
bill  paid  etc.,  but  your  Husband  and  Palgrave  urged  me 
so  strongly  to  stay  that  prudence,  desire  to  get  to  work, 
hatred  of  continuous  wet,  and  everything  gave  way  and  I 
consented  to  stay  a  short  time  longer.  I  hope  that  now 
I  am  so  near  I  shall  be  gratified  by  a  sight  of  the  Land's 
End ;  for  that  I  have  the  greater  part  of  my  life  longed  to 
see,  although  I  know  perfectly  well  it  will  be  much  like 
many  rocky  scenes  of  my  experiences ;  but  I  am  rather 
like  a  baby  and  want  to  do  something  that  sounds 
grand. 

My  object  in  writing  is  not  to  tell  you  this,  but  to  ask 

^  The  journey  in  Devon  and  Cornwall. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  199 

if  you  will  kindly  send  on  my  poem  ^  to  Lady  Trevelyan 
when  you  have  done  with  it. 

Ours  was  a  remarkably  pretty  tour  if  the  weather  had 
been  decent — Bath  was  splendid,  Bideford  interesting,  and 
Clovelly  is  the  most  picturesque  gem  I  ever  saw;  Bude 
was  wild  and  desolate  and  fascinating,  but  not  so  much 
as  Boss  Castle,  which  is  one  of  the  most  savagely  rugged 
things  in  nature  I  should  think;  this  place  would  be  en- 
chanting under  ordinary  circumstances,  the  broad  sweeping 
simple  country — quaint,  queer  looking  cottages,  terrible 
rocks  and  mysterious  caverns,  and  ruins  of  grim  old  castle, 
inaccessible  on  one  side  and  not  easy  of  approach  on  the 
other.  There  is  no  comfortable  bathing  which  is  a  serious 
disadvantage,  for  the  sea  is  so  roary  and  rough  that  none 
but  a  good  swimmer  could  enter  with  impunity. 

•  •••••• 

Yours  ever  truly, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 


My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 


27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.  W., 

October  8,  1860. 


I  had  a  pleasant  little  chat  with  the  great  Greek 
professor  the  other  day;  he  was  anticipating  a  few  days 
of  delightful  holiday  at  Farringford  he  told  me. 

Palgrave  called  in  this  evening;  he  is  busy  reading  all 
the  Poets  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  collection  ^  to  publish 
which  he  intends  to  beat  that  of  Allingham.  I  am  rather 
fond  of  such  books,  for  I  can  dip  from  gem  to  gem  without  the 
trouble  of  getting  up  to  take  books  down  from  the  shelves. 

•  ••••• 

I  cannot  write  so  much  as  I  could  wish  for  it  is  so  late, 
and  the  fire  having  gone  out  without  asking  my  permis- 
sion like  a  bad  servant,  it  has  grown  colder  than  is  pleasant, 
so  wishing  my  best  love  to  the  Poet  and  my  pets. 

Am, 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

1  "  My  Beautiful  Lady."  ^  y^g  Golden  Treasury. 


200  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

The  Rev.  H.  Montagu  Butler  to  T.  Woolner 

Harrow, 

October  12,  1860. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  shall  feel  very  glad  if  you  are  able  to  execute  for 
me  a  work  in  which  I  am  much  interested.  I  intend  to 
offer  to  the  Master  of  Trinity  a  Bust  of  the  late  Archdeacon 
Hare,  to  be  placed  in  the  College  Library. 

The  Archdeacon,  you  are  perhaps  aware,  was  brother- 
in-law  of  Mr.  Maurice,  and  he  was  for  a  long  time  a  resident 
Fellow  of  Trinity.  In  testimony  of  his  affection  for  the 
College  he  left  it  an  exceedingly  large  and  valuable  present 
of  books. 

He  was  in  short  one  of  our  undoubted  benefactors  as 
well  as  (in  my  opinion)  one  of  our  greatest  ornaments  in 
modern  times.  Such  a  man  deserves  a  permanent  mark 
of  respect,  and  my  own  affectionate  reverence  for  his 
memory  makes  me  rejoice  that  it  should  fall  to  me  to 
pay  it. 

Mr.  Maurice  has  been  kind  enough  to  inform  me  that 
there  are  two  extant  portraits  of  Hare ;  the  one  by  Rich- 
mond, the  other,  less  satisfactory  but  in  some  respects 
characteristic,  by  S.  Lawrence.  These  belong  to  Mrs. 
Hare,  and  Mr.  Maurice  authorises  me  to  say  that  they 
would  be  placed  at  your  disposal,  and  that  the  family 
would  to  the  best  of  their  power  furnish  you  with  hints 
suggested  by  personal  recollection. 

My  wish  is  that  the  Bust  should  be  in  marble,  and  as 
good  a  one  as  you  can  make.  I  put  the  matter  very  bluntly 
but  I  do  not  see  that  I  can  put  it  more  accurately. 

You  will  oblige  me  by  letting  me  know  what  the  entire 
cost  would  be ;  but  I  do  not  anticipate  that  any  difficulty 
can  arise  between  us  on  this  point.  The  commission  of 
course  must  be  conditional  on  the  assent  of  the  Master  of 
Trinity  to  accept  the  Bust,  but  it  is  impossible  that  he  can 
hesitate.  To  say  nothing  of  higher  claims,  which  every 
Trinity  man  know  to  be  irresistible.  Hare  was  an  intimate 
personal  friend  of  Whewell.  .  .  .  Your  name  will,  I  am 
sure,  be  a  guarantee  to  him,  as  it  is  to  Mr.  Maurice  and 
myself,  that  all  that  marble  can  do  for  a  face  no  longer 
living  will  be  done  by  your  hand  and  mind. 

Believe  me. 

Very  truly  yours, 

H.  Montagu  Butler. 


[P/iotor/rapli  by  H.  Dixon. 
HEAD    OF    OPHELIA,    1874 


[To  face  page  200. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  201 


Mrs.  Carlyle  to  T.  Woolner 

5,  Grexit  Cheyne  Bow, 
Chelsea, 

[November  22,  I860.] 
1000  thanks  dear  Mr.  Woolner  ! 

I  can't  make  up  my  mind  yet  which  of  the  Photo- 
graphs I  Hke  best.  The  httle  one  is  the  most  characteristic ; 
exactly  the  attitude  in  which  you  stand  on  our  hearth- 
rug !  But  the  larger  one  will  be  best  for  hanging  on  a 
wall .  So  I  mean  to  frame  both,  the  little  one  alongside  of 
Kate  Stanley.  I  will  ask  the  immortal  Mr.  Tait,  the  first 
time  I  can  get  up  the  steam  to  go  to  his  house,  if  he  have 
an  unspoiled  copy  of  Lady  A.  I  was  vexed,  after  promis- 
ing you  one,  to  have  none  better  than  that  to  give  you. 
I  am  sorry  for  your  cat's  Influenza  [It  is  a  clear  case  of 
Influenza  !]  but  it  would  have  been  worse  if  she  had  given 
way  to  passion,  as  her  mother  has  just  done,  and  done  no 
end  of  mischief  in  attempting  a  great  crime  !  For  several 
days  there  had  been  that  in  her  eyes  when  raised  to  my 
canary,  which  filled  my  heart  with  alarm.  I  sent  express 
for  a  carpenter,  and  had  the  cage  attached  to  the  drawing- 
room  ceiling,  with  an  elaborate  apparatus  of  chain  and 
pulley  and  weight.  "  Most  expensive  !  "  (as  my  Scotch 
servant  exclaimed  with  clasped  hands  over  a  Picture  of 
the  Virgin  and  Child  in  the  National  Gallery  !)  and  there 
had  it  swung  for  two  days,  to  Mr.  C.'s  intense  disgust, 
who  regards  thy  pet  as  "  the  most  inanely  chimerical  oj 
all " — the  cat  meanwhile  spending  all  its  spare  time  in 
gazing  up  at  the  bird  with  eyes  aflame  !  But  it  was 
safe  now — I  thought  !  and  went  out  for  a  walk.  On  my 
return  Charlotte  met  me  with  ''  Oh  !  whatever  do  you 
think  the  cat  has  gone  and  done  ?  "  "  Eaten  my  canary  ?  " 
— "  No,  jar  worse  ! — pulled  down  the  cage  and  the  weight, 
and  broke  the  chain  and  upset  the  little  table  and  broken 
everything  on  it!" — "And  not  eaten  the  canary?" — 
"  Oh,  I  suppose  the  dreadful  crash  she  made  frightened 
herself ;  for  I  met  her  running  down  stairs  as  I  ran  up — 
tho'  the  cage  was  on  the  floor,  and  the  door  open  and  the 
canary  in  such  a  way ! "  You  never  saw  such  a  scene  of 
devastation.  The  carpet  was  covered  with  fragments  of  a 
pretty  terra  cotta  basket  given  me  by  Lady  Airlie — and 
fragments  of  the  glass  which  covered  it,  and  with  the  earth 
and  ferns  that  had  been  growing  in  it  and  with  birdseed, 
and  bits  of  brass  chain,  and  I  can't  tell  what  all  !     That 


202  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

is  what  one  gets  by  breeding  up  a  cat  ! — She  had  rushed 
right  out  at  the  back  door  and  didn't  show  her  face  for 
twenty-four  hours  after  ! — And  now  I  don't  know  where 
the  poor  bird  will  be  safe.     Come  soon. 

Affectionately  yours, 

Jane  Carlyle. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

December  7,  1860. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

We  shall  miss  you  very  much  at  Christmas  I  need 
not  say.  Let  us  know  when  anything  is  settled  about 
Sedgwick,  please.  I  heartily  agree  with  you  in  your  dislike 
of  money  affairs  and  I  become  more  and  more  convinced 
that  money  lies  at  the  root  of  at  least  half  the  sin  and 
sorrow  of  the  world.  Beyond  all  price  to  me  would  be  a 
worthy  subject  for  Alfred,  one  which  would  fix  him  whether 
he  would  or  no. 

The  boys'  love  and  Alfred's,  the  boys  both  shout  out 
"  I  hope  he  will  come  soon." 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

James  Anthony  Froude  to  T.  Woolner 

6,  Clifton  Place, 

Hyde  Park,  W., 
Sunday,  December  8  [I860]. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  am  sure  you  will  forgive  my  trespassing  upon  you 
with  a  matter  on  which  no  one  living  can  give  so  good  an 
opinion  as  you  can  give.  My  brother-in-law  Mr.  Warre  of 
the  Isle  of  Thanet  has  lately  died,  and  his  family  wish  to 
place  a  really  handsome  monument  over  the  vault.  There 
is  no  alternative  in  a  monument  between  what  is  beautiful 
&  what  is  hideous. 

If  the  feeling  is  not  definitely  pleased  it  is  disgusted. 

Can  you  tell  me  where  to  go  for  designs — or  could  you 
be  induced  to  sketch  a  design  yourself  ?  ^ — Were  there  a 
chance  of  persuading  you  I  would  call  on  you  to  talk  it  over. 

•  ••••• 

Ever  faithfully  &  truly  yours, 

J.  A.  Froude. 

^  Woolner  designed  the  tablet,  which  was  erected  in  Ramsgate. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  203 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hamjpstead  Road,  N.W., 
December  9,  1860. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

Palgrave  has  nearly  finished  making  his  selections 
from  the  Poets, ^  and  has  throughout  shown  the  most 
extraordinary  interest  in  his  work;  in  fact  he  scarcely 
seems  to  think  of  anything  else  than  the  work  he  is  en- 
gaged upon.  He  certainly  has  an  astonishingly  acute  and 
quick  mind  in  reading  an  enormous  amount  and  extracting 
the  best  things. 

Novelli  came  this  morning  to  see  Sedgwick  and  was  so 
delighted  that  he  said  it  was  unquestionably  the  best  bust 
I  had  done. 

I  forget  if  I  told  you  in  my  last  note  how  remarkably 
well  Mrs.  Carlyle  is  this  year,  and  generally  she  is  laid  up 
an  invalid  the  whole  winter.  I  was  there  the  other  even- 
ing and  they  told  me  a  good  joke  of  Ruskin.  She  sat  next 
him  at  dinner  at  Ld.  Ashburton's,  and  Ruskin  was  full  of 
glee  at  the  thought  of  having  been  chosen  to  decide  as  one 
of  the  judges  on  the  Melbourne  Shakespeare  statue  affair, 
and  she  told  him  that  he  and  Carlyle  would  never  agree, 
but  asked,  who  he  w^ould  appoint,  supposing  he  wxre  sole 
judge,  to  make  Shakespeare's  statue;  he  said  that  un- 
doubtedly he  should  appoint  Richmond,  the  portrait 
draughtsman  and  that  he  considered  Richmond  could  do 
it  better  than  any  other  man  in  England.  This  is  quite 
serious  and  not  the  least  in  joke  on  his  part.  I  merely 
give  it  to  you  as  an  instance  of  the  flimsiness  and  folly  to 
which  a  man's  mind  may  arrive,  when  he  lives  fattening 
upon  the  adulation  of  ladies  and  weak  young  men,  chiefly 
landscape  painters. 

•  ••••• 

My  love  to  the  Poet  and  the  boys  who  are  I  hope 
vigorous. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

^  The  Golden  Treasury. 


204  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W., 

February  13,  1861. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 


I  have  placed  the  Sedgwick  at  Trin :  Col :  Lib :  ^  in 
the  vestibule  beside  the  Tennyson  and  everyone  is  de- 
lighted with  it  I  believe.  It  is  in  a  most  excellent  light 
and  looks  better  than  in  my  own  study.  I  met  Kingsley 
at  Macmillan's  and  he  was  exceedingly  kind  to  me,  and 
insisted  on  my  going  to  his  house  as  he  wanted  to  introduce 
me  to  his  wife. 


My  love  to  the  Poet  and  the  boys.     I  have  not  heard  any 
news  for  a  long  while  of  them. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


James  Anthony  Froude  to  T.  Woolner 

Clifton  Place, 
Tuesday,  July  2  [1861]. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

The  Ramsgate  Tablet  had  better  be  sent  down  as 
soon  as  it  is  ready.  ...  I  will  try  to  get  to  you  again  to 
see  the  Cawnpore  sketch  ^ — the  figure  appeared  to  me  in- 
tensely expressive  but  expressive  of  unthinkable  agony. 
The  child  appeared  as  if  it  had  just  dropped  from  the 
hands. 

Did  you  mean  that  ? 

Ever  faithfully  &  truly  yours, 

J.  A.  Froude. 

^  Library. 

^  A  design  for  the  Cawnpore  Memorial.  A  sketch  in  plaster,  which 
represents  a  mother  with  her  arms  stretched  out  in  despair  and  agony, 
and  the  child  dead  at  her  feet. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  205 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Hoad,  N.W., 
October  5,  1861. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

You  know  that  one  of  the  dearest  wishes  of  my  soul 
was  to  get  a  house  in  town  where  I  could  also  have  my 
studios ;  this  has  at  last  been  accomplished  :  I  have  paid 
the  whole  of  the  money  £1200  and  now  you  may  regard  me 
as  a  Nabob  swelling  with  importance.  Palgrave  is  now 
living  in  the  house  but  I  shall  not  be  able  to  do  so  until 
the  studios  are  finished  building,  which  will  be  in  about 
2  months.  I  think  it  will  be  a  most  beautiful  place,  with 
five  rooms  for  workshops  besides  a  large  kitchen  below  in 
wliich  I  can  stow  away  things  not  in  immediate  use,  and 
this  advantage  is  equal  to  another  shop. 

This  house  in  Welbeck  St :  Cavendish  Sq :  is  the  result 
of  about  6  years'  searching,  and  several  months  of  such 
annoyance  that  I  think  a  little  more  would  have  driven 
me  into  a  deadly  fever  of  illness ;  I  have  been  obliged  to 
consent  with  my  eyes  wide  open  to  be  plundered  to  the 
extent  of  £300 ;  this  is  bad  enough,  but  not  so  bad  as  all 
the  worry  added  to  it  has  been.  Now  I  suppose  I  shall  be 
always  tormented  with  servants  :  really  human  life  is  by 
no  means  a  joke. 

I  am  getting  on  very  well  with  my  Fairbairn  Group  the 
marble  has  turned  out  most  perfect  and  excites  the  admira- 
tion of  all  who  see  it,  for  the  tone  and  texture  are  most 
choice.  I  have  just  completed  a  Tennyson  bust  in  marble 
for  Chas  :  Buxton  M.P.  for  Maidstone  :  this  also  has  turned 
out  excellent  marble.  I  have  just  finished  a  marble  bust 
of  W.  Shaen,  he  is  the  happy  man  who  possesses  the  only 
complete  dwelling  house  built  by  poor  Woodward  whose 
death  I  suppose  you  have  heard  of.  I  have  finished 
models  of  Arch :  Hare  and  Prof :  Henslow,  and  am  now 
doing  Mr.  Fairbairn  in  marble  :  so  you  see  that  alt  ho' 
nearly  badgered  to  death  I  have  not  been  idle ;  but  all 
my  hard  work  seems  to  bring  me  nothing  but  more  worry 
and  I  see  no  chance  for  any  ultimate  reward. 

•  ••••• 

You  have  no  notion  of  what  a  changed  fellow  Palgrave  is ; 
he  is  perfectly  cheerful,  even  hopeful,  and  his  kindness  and 
thoughtfulness  in  everything  that  he  can  do  to  serve  any 


206  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

good  turn  are  more  than  I  can  tell.  His  Golden  Treasury 
has  been  such  a  marked  success,  in  fact  extraordinary, 
that  it  has  cheered  him  wonderfully.  I  am  in  hopes  he 
will  fall  in  love  and  marry  some  girl,  for  there  will  be 
abundance  of  room  in  my  big  wilderness  of  a  house  for 
him. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

I  saw  that  Sir  J.  Simeon  had  consoled  himself  again  : 
Froude  had  done  ditto.  I  see  that  Patmore  in  his  new 
poem  in  Macs :  Mag :  ^  warmly  advocates  the  practice  of 
this  kind  of  consolation. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


T.  Woolner  to  Coventry  Patmore 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.  W., 

October  6,  1861. 
Dear  Patmore, 

I  called  on  you  to-night  but  found  the  gate  barred, 
the  bell  rung  but  did  not  open  it,  so  I  had  to  go  away  with- 
out seeing  you.  I  am  bound  to  say  that  it  was  not  far 
from  10  P.M.  which  is  I  suppose  late  for  country. 

I  saw  Macmillan  who  wants  me  to  do  an  idea  for  Mrs. 
Patmore' s  book  which  I  confess  will  not  be  easy.  I  told 
it  him  merely  as  a  thing  I  should  like  to  do  if  space  on  page 
permitted  &c  :  but  both  he  and  Masson  were  ticlded  with 
the  notion  that  they  scorned  to  admit  any  other  could  be 
more  appropriate  as  regards  Art ;  the  consequence  is  that 
I  shall  have  as  much  study  of  composition  for  this  trifling 
thing  as  I  should  have  in  designing  a  group  for  marble — • 
but  we  must  take  the  world  as  it  goes.  I  finished  the  pur- 
chase of  my  house  £1200  ! — think  of  the  vast  and  majestic 
sum  !  I  puff  and  blow  with  importance ;  I  am  a  grampus 
snorting  thro'  the  seas  of  difficulty.  Palgrave  is  already 
established  in  the  new  house;  the  studies  progress  well. 
I  have  been  rejoiced  to  hear  good  accounts  of  Mrs. 
Patmore.  I  hope  they  may  continue  good  throughout 
the  winter. 

Ever  yours, 

Trios.  Woolner. 

^  Macmillan'' s. 


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HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  207 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

October  8,  1861. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

The'  not  yet  free  from  the  cruel  bondage  of  the 
seventy  or  eighty  letters  we  found  on  our  return,  to  which 
number  there  have  been  daily  additions,  yet  I  cannot 
help  saying  we  are  so  very  glad  that  you  have  a  house 
fitted  to  your  purposes,  and  in  a  quarter  likely  to  make  you 
still  better  known  than  you  are. 

We  rejoice  too,  of  the  pleasant  news  of  Mr.  Palgrave 
and  The  Golden  Treasury, 

•  ••••• 

We  wished  you  could  have  seen  the  divine  expression 
of  St.  Firmin  (I  think  it  was)  in  one  of  the  screens  of  the 
Cathedral  at  Amiens.  The  sword  is  uplifted  over  the 
martyr  to  strike  and  certainly  there  is  a  heavenly  glory  in 
his  face  not  to  be  forgotten.  And  a  wonderful  drama  too 
in  the  surrounding  group.   They  are  statuettes,  all  coloured. 

But,  do  you  know,  I  will  whisper  this  in  your  ear,  that 
the  beauty  of  Farringford  is  dearer  to  me  than  that  of  any 
of  those  places. 

[No  signature.] 


CHAPTER  XI 

WooLNER  wrote  out  for  his  friend  Tennyson  the  story  of 
"  The  Fisherman  "  he  had  told  him  years  ago,  and  wliich 
he  had  read  himself  on  board  ship  returning  from  Australia  : 
a  note  in  his  diary  on  November  11,  1861,  states  :  "  Took 
Tennyson  the  Fisherman  story."  This  tale  was  made 
by  the  Poet  into  the  beautiful  poem  of  "  Enoch  Arden," 
one  of  the  most  touching  in  the  English  language. 

The  Fisher^ian's  Story 

A  Fisherman,  who  belonged  to  one  of  the  coast  to'SMis  of 
either  Norfolk  or  Suffolk,  had  always  regarded  one  little 
girl,  a  playfellow  and  daughter  of  a  neighbour,  as  belonging 
peculiarly  to  himself.  I  am  not  aware  that  he  had  any 
special  reason  for  so  doing  beyond  his  o^vn  strong  mil  and 
inclination.  However  this  may  be,  when  he  had  reached 
an  age  to  seriously  ponder  such  things,  to  work  hard,  save 
money,  buy  a  smack,  make  a  home  for  this  girl  as  his  wife 
— was  to  him  the  very  meaning  of  his  life.  In  due  course 
all  these  intentions  were  fulfilled  and  he  was  happy. 

For  some  years  he  was  as  much  so  as  a  human  being 
can  be ;  he  was  healthy,  wedded  to  one  whom  he  had  loved 
from  infancy;  and  was  moreover  gladdened  with  three 
children. 

After  he  had  been  married  wellnigh  7  years  he  began 
to  grow  anxious  and  somewhat  desponding,  and  all  his 
wife  could  do  was  insufficient  to  cheer  him  to  serenity 
again,  but  after  this  depression  and  care  had  gone  on  for 
some  months  he  at  length  formed  his  resolution,  and 
communicated  it  to  her. 

It  was  this — he  found  that  the  utmost  exertion  would 
do   no    more   than   barely   support   his    family   with   the 

208 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  209 

common  necessaries  of  life,  and  therefore  he  would  sell  his 
little  well  beloved  vessel,  with  the  money  stock  a  shop  of 
general  goods,  and  set  his  wife  up  in  business,  which  he 
hoped  would  support  her  and  children  till  his  return,  for 
he  meant  to  enter  as  boatswain  a  ship  bound  for  China, 
and  if  needed  do  this  twice,  and  with  the  wages  that  he 
would  save,  enter  into  partnership  of  some  larger  vessel, 
which  he  reasonably  calculated  would  bring  him  profits 
enough  not  only  to  maintain  his  family  well,  but  would 
enable  him  to  educate  his  children,  which,  as  he  had  ever 
been  of  a  gentle  nature  he  considered  as  indispensable  for 
them  as  food  itself. 

For  the  first  time  in  her  life  his  wife  tried  to  thwart 
his  project  by  opposition  :  she  entreated  him  by  all  means 
in  her  power  to  give  up  the  thought  of  leaving  her,  his 
children  and  his  country;  but  all  her  entreaties  failed, 
for  he  firmly  believed  that  this  was  his  only  escape  from 
seeing  his  children  grow  up  in  ignorance  and  his  wife 
ultimately  dwelling  in  squalor,  so  that  at  last  she  yielded ; 
the  smack  was  sold,  the  shop  purchased  and  stored  and 
he  was  soon  successful  in  getting  such  an  engagement  as 
he  desired.     And  then  came  the  dreadful  day  of  parting. 

She  mourned  as  if  his  absence  were  his  grave ;  but  after 
awhile  set  herself  to  do  her  best  with  the  shop  and  children. 
She  never  did  really  well  but  managed  to  get  some  kind  of  a 
living  for  awhile,  tho'  not  having  been  bred  to  barter  she 
found  at  length  her  small  stock  decrease,  without  its 
bringing  back  the  wherewithal  to  replenish  it.  Year 
after  year  slipped  by  and  she  heard  no  tidings  of  her 
husband,  and  found  herself  in  deep  poverty  and  her  heart 
sick  with  hopelessness. 

It  appears  that  there  was  a  rich  miller  living  near  the 
town,  who  also  had  been  a  playfellow  both  of  the  fisher- 
boy  and  of  the  girl,  and  like  the  fisherboy,  her  lover.  He 
had  never  married  but  had  in  silence  loved  on  without 
hope.  He  was  of  a  high  and  noble  nature,  and  when  he 
became  aware  of  the  woman's  distress  endeavoured  by 
many  ways  to  benefit  her;    but  for  a  long  time  he  was 

unsuccessful.     At  last,  when  her  state  had  become  most 
p 


210  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

wretched,  he  went  to  see  her  and  urged  her  by  the  love  she 
bore  her  husband's  children  to  let  him  at  least  send  them 
to  school,  and  when  her  husband  returned,  if  she  wished, 
she  could  return  what  little  he  might  have  spent  on  them. 
She  could  not  resist  this  offer,  as  she  thought  in  duty  to 
her  husband  and  children  both. 

But  what  chiefly  determined  her  in  accepting  his  assis- 
tance was  the  death  of  her  youngest  child,  who  she  feared 
all  too  truly  had  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  those  wants  that 
money  alone  can  provide.  Thus  matters  stood  for  some 
time,  till  by  degrees  the  two  remaining  children  came  to 
love  him  so  much  that  he  claimed  the  right  to  send  them 
presents,  books,  flour  etc.,  and  many  things  for  their 
support. 

Things  went  on  in  this  way  for  8  years  and  a  half,  and 
no  news  whatever  came  of  her  husband,  beyond  the  fact 
that  the  ship  in  which  he  was  returning  from  China  was 
wrecked  in  the  Southern  Seas,  and  all  hands  lost.  At  the 
end  of  this  time  the  miller  came  to  her  and  said,  that  she 
must  now  know  that  all  chance  of  again  seeing  her  husband 
return  was  beyond  hope.  That  while  there  was  the 
vaguest  hope  even  he  had  avoided  the  topic,  but  now  felt 
he  might  speak  of  it  safely  without  fear  of  misconstruction. 
He  said  she  had  suffered  bitterly  and  long  like  a  true  wife, 
and  now  he  thought  in  justice  to  herself  she  might  enter 
on  a  new  life  and  if  she  would,  he  should  consider  it  the 
highest  reward  that  could  come  to  him  if  she  would  con- 
sent to  be  his  wife;  he  said  she  knew  that  he  loved  her 
children  as  if  they  were  his  own,  and  that  he  wished  to  be 
a  father  to  them.  She  was  overwhelmed  with  grief  and 
gratitude,  and  could  never  thank  him  enough  for  his 
more  than  human  kindness  to  her  and  hers,  but  implored 
him  not  to  urge  her  as  she  felt  her  husband  must  be 
living. 

He  at  that  time  urged  no  longer  but  continued,  if  pos- 
sible, to  double  his  kindness.  At  the  end  of  another  year 
he  opened  the  question  again,  and  this  time  she  so  far 
entertained  his  proposal  as  to  promise,  that  if  he  would 
add  to  his  generosity  by  waiting  one  year  longer,  she  would 


4 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  211 

then  if  no  tidings  came  become  his  wife  :  he  thought  this 
an  micalled  for  delay  but  consented.  At  the  stipulated 
time  he  again  made  his  attack,  and  she  promised  to  become 
his  wife;  but  notwithstanding  her  promise  she  continued 
through  various  excuses  to  delay  the  marriage  for  6  months 
longer,  making  in  all  11  years  since  her  husband  departed. 

The  husband  himself,  after  a  successful  and  profitable 
voyage  to  China,  was  returning  by  way  of  the  Southern 
Seas  when  the  ship  met  with  a  tremendous  storm  which 
wrecked  her,  and  he,  with  only  two  companions  clinging  to 
a  mast,  were  drifted  ashore  upon  an  island  in  the  S.  Pacific 
Ocean,  where  one  of  them  soon  died,  and  3  years  after 
the  other,  so  that  for  12  years  he  lived  alone  upon  the 
island  like  a  wild  man,  he  having  lived  there  15  years  in 
all ;  at  the  end  of  which  time  a  vessel,  also  returning  from 
China  having  met  a  long  course  of  baffling  winds,  and 
being  distressed  for  water,  made  this  island  for  the  purpose 
of  filling  their  casks,  where  they  found  this  man,  and 
brought  him  back  to  England. 

He  lost  no  time  in  reaching  his  native  town  where 
everything  seemed  familiar,  yet  bodefully  strange. 

He  himself  was  so  changed  and  worn  that  he  had  no 
fear  of  being  known.  He  went  to  the  house  where  he  had 
left  his  wife  and  found  it  passed  into  other  hands.  At 
length  he  found  courage  to  make  enquiries  and  learned 
what  had  taken  place. 

It  was  on  a  damp,  chill  autumnal  evening  when  he  sought 
the  miller's  house  just  outside  the  town.  He  passed  un- 
noticed through  the  garden,  and  saw  a  light  in  the  parlour ; 
he  went  close  and  looked  in,  where  he  saw  the  miller,  stout, 
rosy  and  happy,  with  a  two  years  old  child  on  his  knee,  and 
his  own  daughter  a  beautiful  girl  of  18  leaning  over  his 
shoulder  playing  with  the  child;  opposite  the  miller  sat 
his  wife,  looking  calm  and  happy,  talking  to  his  own  son, 
a  lad  of  16  or  so.  He  saw  the  service  set  for  tea,  the 
candles  were  not  lit,  for  it  was  what  in  those  parts  they  call 
"  between  the  lights,"  and  they  were  enjoying  themselves 
by  the  Hght  of  the  fire.  The  sight  of  this  domestic 
peacefulness  and  delight  contrasting  with  his  own  black 


212  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

desolation  made  the  poor  man  groan,  and  in  his  deep  agony 
turn  from  what  was  bitterer  to  feel  than  death. 

He  left  the  garden  and  fell  down  on  the  ground,  praying 
God  to  give  him  strength  not  to  mar  the  happiness  he  had 
seen  by  any  disclosure  of  himself,  but  he  could  not  destroy 
the  happiness  of  a  whole  family  and  must  be  ever  wretched 
himself.  He  determined  then  that  while  he  lived  they 
should  never  know  his  fate,  and  went  down  to  the 
wharves  and  gained  a  poor  livelihood  by  porterage,  unload- 
ing ships  and  doing  any  little  jobs  he  could  get  for  about 
a  year,  when  he  was  taken  with  an  illness  which  soon 
brought  him  near  the  end.  When  he  felt  his  time  had 
nigh  come,  he  disclosed  his  whole  story  to  an  old  woman 
with  whom  he  lodged,  (and  who  had  originally  given  him 
the  history  of  his  wife's  widow-life  and  marriage  with  the 
miller),  under  solemn  promise  that  she  would  not  reveal 
it  until  his  decease,  when  she  was  to  go  and  tell  his  wife  all 
she  knew,  and  that  he  died  praying  of  his  God  to  bless  her 
and  her  family. 


Farringford, 

December  5,  1861. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

•  ••*** 

What  a  pleasure  it  will  be  to  them  ^  and  us  to  see 
you  again.  It  seems  so  long  since  you  were  here.  I  am 
very  glad  your  rooms  will  be  so  beautiful.  People  may 
say  what  they  Hke,  but  beauty  is  a  great  help  in  life  and 
not  merely  an  unnecessary  indulgence. 

Yes,  he  has  done  a  little  of  the  ''  Fisherman."  It  is 
indeed  an  heroic  story.  Commend  us  heartily  to  the 
Carlyles  and  with  love  from  Alfred  and  the  boys, 

Believe  me. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

Thank  you  for  the  beautiful  shepherd.^ 

1  Hallam  and  Lionel. 

2  The  "  Piping  Boy,"  frontispiece  to  The  Golden  Treasury. 


\  i'h>'h''iiiii<h  Ini   Ivi  lit  and  Lacey. 
THE    LISTENING    BOY 
Sketch  for  an  imaginary  memorial  to  a  deaf  child. 


{To  face  page  213 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  213 

Extract  from  Mrs.  Tennyson's  letter  to  T.  Woolner. 

December  12,  1861. 

•  ••••• 

I  hope  you  will  think  what  A.  has  done  of  the  "  Fisher- 
man "  as  grand  and  beautiful  as  I  do. 

•  ••••• 

What  you  say  about  work  for  sensitive  minds — Idleness 
to  them  is  far  the  hardest  work,  it  saps  the  very  roots  of 
life. 

•  ••••• 

Ever  most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

T.  Woolner  to  F.  T.  Palgrave 

27,  Rutland  Street, 

Hampstead  Road,  N.W.^ 
December  31,  1861. 

Dear  Palgrave, 

.  .  .  The  Palace  progresses;  the  smells  are  dreadful, 
the  confusion  dire.  O'Shea  ^  is  doing  his  work  like  a  man, 
and  the  corbels  are  bursting  forth  into  violets,  roses,  this- 
tles, ivies,  geraniums  &  other  things  lovelier  than  their 
names.  He  does  not  complain  of  the  stone  having  been 
cut  away,  he  says  it  does  very  well  for  his  purpose  :  .  .  . 
so  fast  is  his  progress  that  unless  your  brother  come 
early  O'Shea  will  have  done  and  fled,  for  such  rapidity 
of  workmanship  I  never  saw,  he  does  3  corbels  a  day  ! 
I  thought  he  would  take  a  day  each.  .  .  . 

Thine 

T.  Woolner. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farriiujford, 

February  11,  1862. 
Thank  you,  my  dear  Mr.  Woolner. 

The  "  Fisherman  "  ^  is  to  have  a  previous  training  I 
think  in  his  boyhood.  A.  has  been  talking  to  Captain 
Hamond  about  it.  There  would  not  be  sufficient  bettering 
of  his  condition  in  a  mere  sailor's  pay.     This  is  why  the 

1  O'Shea,  a  very  accomplished  stonemason,  who  carved  the  corbels  in 
the  studios  at  29  Welbeck  Street. 

2  "  Enoch  Arden." 


214 


THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 


boatswain  is  important.  I  hope  you  were  not  vexed  by 
trouble  thrown  away  as  much  as  I  was  vexed  that  you 
should  have  thrown  it  away.  Tho'  no  good  and  kind  act 
is  ever  really  thrown  away,  is  it  ? 

Alfred  varies  but  on  the  whole  is  better.      He  and  the 
boys  send  love. 

Believe  me, 

Ever  most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 


4 


CHAPTER  XII 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  WeWeck  Street,  Pf., 

February  19,  1862. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

...  I  saw  and  spent  nearly  two  hours  with  Brown- 
ing on  Sunday,  and  found  him  as  interesting  as  ever.  He 
is  cut  to  the  quick  at  his  wife's  death  and  sometiraes,  when 
anything  verges  near  the  subject  his  voice  stops  altogether, 
and  his  manner  pierces  one's  soul  with  grief;  yet  notwith- 
standing the  awe  which  such  overwhelming  sorrow  com- 
mands, I  could  not  help  feeling  a  kind  of  deep  and  wild 
delight,  that  I  really  saw  a  man  who  could  feel  the  death 
of  a  wife,  as  one's  old-fashioned  notions  thought  a  wife's 
death  ought  to  be  felt.  It  was  to  me  a  gust  of  fresh  whole- 
some air ;  for  truly  the  way  the  world  lives  with  regard  to 
the  greatest  and  highest  things  is  well  nigh  enough  to  make 
belief  in  them  sicken  and  die  altogether ;  and  it  needs  the 
occasional  sight  of  how  a  true  woman  or  a  great  man  feels 
and  lives  for  a  poor  or  ordinary  individual  to  be  able  to 
sustain  anything  of  a  large  heroic  faith.  I  forget  if  I  told 
you  that  I  should  have  to  do  a  figure  of  P.  Consort  for  the 
N.  Mus  :  Oxford,  to  be  presented  to  the  City.  Unfortu- 
nately it  is  not  marble  and  only  stone,  but  I  must  make  the 
best  I  can  of  it.  .  .  . 

Ever  yours  truly, 

Thos  :  WoOLNER. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

March  20,  1862. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

I  feel  very  anxious  to  see  your  group  ^  not  so  much  for 
the  sake  of  the  delight  I  feel  sure  I  shall  have  in  it,  but  to 
reassure  myself  that  it  has  a  beauty  which  must  speak  to 

^  "  Constance  and  Arthur,"  deaf  and  dumb. 
215 


216  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

every  one.  I  want  that  you  should  do  beautiful  things, 
for  I  think  these  have  the  language  common  to  all,  and  I 
have  now  grown  very  impatient  for  popularity  for  you. 
Do  not  scorn  me  or  it.  The  human  heart  reveals  many 
things  even  without  the  illuminating  brain. 

The  Duke  of  Argyll  has  promised  to  speak  to  the  Queen 
himself  and  this  seems  the  best  thing  that  could  be  done, 
for  he  is  to  speak  Alfred's  impressions  of  your  power  and 
standing,  and  his  own  impression  of  these  impressions  is, 
that  there  never  was  such  a  partisan  as  he  laughingly 
calls  him. 

•  ••••• 

Believe  me,  with  Alfred's  love  and  the  boys'. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

There  is  the  following  entry  in  Woolner's  diary  :  April  24, 
1862.  "  Robert  Browning  called  to  leave  stanza  for 
group."  Browning  was  so  struck  by  the  pathos  of  the 
marble  group  of  Thomas  Fairbairn's  children,  Constance 
and  Arthur,  exhibited  in  the  great  International  Exhibi- 
tion, he  wrote  the  following  lines  printed  by  kind  permission 
of  Mr.  John  Murray.  The  manuscript  of  these  lines  by 
Robert  Browning,  Woolner  sent  to  Mr.  Fairbairn  who  had 
given  him  the  commission. 

DEAF  AND  DUMB  CHILDREN 

Only  the  prism's  obstruction  shows  aright 
The  secret  of  a  sunbeam,  breaks  its  light 
Into  a  jewelled  bow  from  blankest  white ; 

So  may  a  glory  from  defect  arise : 
Only  by  Deafness  may  the  vexed  Love  wreak 
Its  insuppressive  sense  on  brow  and  cheek, 
Only  by  Dumbness  adequately  speak 

As  favoured  mouth  could  never,  through  the  eyes. 

Mrs.  Carlyle  to  T.  Woolner 

5,  Cheyne  Bow, 
Chelsea, 
Wednesday  [March  27,  1862]. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Can  you  come  to  tea  on  Friday  (the  day  after  to- 
morrow) at  eight  o'clock.  It  would  be  a  charity  towards 
my  Husband  !  A  pretty  little  new-married  girl  is  to  bring 
her   Husband   to    make    acquaintance  with    Mr.    C.   that 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  217 

evening;  and  I  don't,  for  my  part,  see  the  least  in  the 
world  how  the  said  Mr.  C.  is  to  get  thro'  it,  without  your 
or  some  as  efficient  help  ! 

He  has  been  doing  what  he  could  about  the  Herbert 
Statue ;  but  whether  the  least  good  will  come  of  his  speaking 
God,  or  the  Devil,  knows  ! 

Faithfully  yours, 

Jane  W.  Carlyle. 

Professor  Sedgwick  to  T.  Woolner 

Langdijf,  near  Settle, 

May  19,  1862. 
My  dear  Friend. 

The  very  serious  illness  of  my  Niece  brought  me 
down  to  this  place  on  Saturday,  the  3rd  of  this  month. 
At  the  end  of  the  week  following  she  seemed  so  convalescent 
that  I  went  to  spend  a  few  days  at  Dent — my  native 
village — where  my  Nephew  and  his  family  now  live  in 
the  old  Parsonage.  To  my  great  grief  I  heard  that  she 
had  suffered  a  relapse ;  and  I  consequently  returned 
thither  at  the  end  of  last  week.  To  my  great  joy  I  learnt 
at  the  Settle  Station  .  .  .  my  Niece  was  much  better  .  .  . 
These  facts  cannot  be  of  any  interest  to  you,  and  I  only 
state  them  as  my  apology  for  not  having  answered  your 
two  letters  .  .  .  this  letter  will  not  leave  Settle  till  the 
evening.  You  will  see  from  these  dates,  that  it  was 
literally  impossible  for  me  to  communicate  with  any 
member  of  the  Macaulay  Committee.  Had  I  been  present 
I  should  have  mentioned  your  name  as  a  sculptor  of  genius 
who  would  devote  himself  with  all  his  energies  to  the  work 
of  art,  if  appointed  to  it  by  the  Committee  ...  I  may  at  the 
same  time,  say  with  truth,  that  I  shall  on  personal  grounds 
rejoice  should  they  have  selected  you  as  their  Sculptor.  .  .  . 

I  remain,  dear  Woolner, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

A.  Sedgwick. 
Thomas  Woolner,  Esq., 
29,  Welbeck  Street. 

Professor  Sedgwick  to  T.  Woolner 

Langdijf,  near  Settle, 

May  24,  1862. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

All  the  family  news  I  can  send  is  good  .  .  .  My 
Niece  is  slowly  recovering ;  but  steadily  :  &  I  now  feel 
very  confident  hopes  that  she  will  next  week  be  able  to  go 


218  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

with  me  to  a  most  comfortable  Hotel  which  overlooks 
Morecambe  Bay — one  of  the  finest — nay,  the  very  finest, 
of  the  Bays  in  the  north  of  England.  .  .  .  The  weather 
is  not  so  warm  &  lovely  as  it  was  for  the  first  three  weeks 
of  this  month  :  but  we  are  so  near  the  rock  in  the  fields  all 
around  us,  that  the  land  soon  drinks  up  the  rain,  &  our 
soil  requires  refreshing  with  frequent  showers.  All  the 
hills  around  us,  show  us  grey  precipices  of  Carboniferous 
limestone — the  most  picturesque  Hmestone  rock  in  England 
— e.  g.  the  scenery  of  Cheddar;  Chfton;  Chepstow  & 
Tintern;  the  High  Peak  of  Derbyshire;  Inglebo rough ; 
Easdale  etc.  etc.  etc.  If  you  have  not  seen  all  these  places, 
go  and  see  them,  that  you  may  learn  how  sweetly,  tho'  a 
little  roughly,  dame  Nature  knew  how,  in  olden  times  to 
sculpture  stone  work  in  this  Island  of  ours  ...  I  yester- 
day drove  up  the  valley  of  the  Upper  Kibble  to  Horton, 
where  I  had  spent  some  happy  days  when  I  was  a  schoolboy. 

...  I  saw  the  tombstones  of  some  whom  I  had  person- 
ally known,  &  of  them  I  had  known  less  familiarly ;  but 
they  had  left  no  hving  representatives  in  the  wild  & 
retired  district.  Not  a  soul  was  living  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  whom  I  had  any  knowledge — such  blanks  are  comm^^ 
with  me  now.  Yet  I  have  a  constant  longing  to  gaze  af 
spots  which  I  have  gazed  at  60  or  70  years  since. 

"  Past  and  to  come  seem  best,  things  present  worst.'' 
I  think  these  words  are  in  Shakespeare.  ...  My  memory 
paints  brightly  the  days  of  my  early  hfe,  &  I  well  ^ may 
call  them  best ;  &  I  am  now  working  my  way  thro'  the 
8th  decade  of  "  labour  and  sorrow  "  which  /  cannot  truly 
call  "  the  best''  ...  I  am  writing  to  congratidate  you  on 
the  unanimous  decision  of  the  Macaulay  Committee.  I 
heartily  rejoice  at  it.  .  .  .  May  God  speed  you  well  in 
all  the  future  works  of  your  life  !  May  your  past  life, 
however  long  continued,  be  ever  bright  in  memory;  and 
may  your  future  ever  be  full  of  good  hoye.  .  .  . 

Ever  truly  yours, 

A.  Sedgwick. 

From  Woolner's  Diary,  July  5,  1862 — 
''■  Finished  writing  out  Suffolk  story, '  The  Sermon,'  ^  for 
A.  T." 

1  In  February,  1864,  an  entry  in  Woolner's  Diary  states  :  "  A.  Tennyson 
called  and  dined— went  with  him  to  Spedding's  rooms  where  he  read  me 
his  new  Poem  of  '  The  Sermon  '  so  called  at  present." 


fl 


[Photograph  by  Kent  and  Lacey. 


BLUECOAT    BOY    GROUP 

From  plaster  model. 


[To  face  page  219. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  219 

It  will  be  seen  "  The  Sermon  "  was  the  title  Woolner 
gave  the  tale.  Tennyson  taking  the  main  points  for  his 
lovely  poem  named  it  "  Aylmer's  Field."  The  receipt 
of  the  MS.  was  acknowledged  by  Mrs.  Tennyson  from 
Farringford  a  few  days  later  in  a  letter  dated  July  10. 

"  The  Sermon. 

"  There  never  was  anything  like  it ;  that  Sermon  will 
never  be  forgotten,  it  was  the  death  of  both  of  them." 
They  were  some  such  words  that  took  my  attention  late 
one  summer  evening,  when  my  grandfather  and  an  old 
rustic  were  chatting  together  of  the  county  families  that 
were  flourishing  or  had  passed  away.  I  ^  was  a  very  young 
child,  but  as  my  memory  for  tales  that  interested  me  has 
always  been  vivid,  I  think  all  the  points  will  be  accurate.  I 
cannot  remember  a  single  name  and  doubt  if  I  ever  took 
notice  of  any  at  the  time. 

The  Sermon  was  preached  at  the  burial  of  the  only  child 
of  a  wealthy  Suffolk  Baronet,  the  sole  representative  of 
what  had  been  a  powerful  family.  His  daughter  was 
regarded  as  the  beauty  of  the  county,  and  adored  by  all 
the  villagers  and  tenantry  on  her  father's  lands.  It  w^as 
her  constant  practice  to  go  among  them  bestowing  kind- 
nesses among  the  women  and  children,  and  she  was  often 
accompanied  by  a  young  man,  who  was  brother  of  the 
Rector  of  the  parish  where  she  dwelt. 

This  young  man's  family  had  always  been  on  the  most 
familiar  terms  with  the  Baronet's,  and  tho'  many  years 
her  elder  he  had  been  her  constant  playmate  when  they 
were  children,  and  as  they  grew  their  intercourse  ripened 
into  devoted  love.  The  youth  spent  most  of  his  time  at 
the  Hall,  and  no  bar  was  put  upon  their  intimacy,  until  the 
parents  of  the  lady  began  to  think  of  marrying  her,  and 
neighbours  to  hint  that  it  was  dangerous  to  allow  their 
daughter  to  spend  so  much  time  with  him,  as  her  feelings 
might  become  entangled,  etc.  The  parents  seem  not  to 
have  had  eyes  of  lynxes,  but  suspicion  once  roused  to  the 
true  state  of  the  case,  their  observation  soon  left  no  doubt 

^  Thomas  Woolner. 


220  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

in  their  minds  as  to  the  mutual  love,  nor  did  their  resolution 
halt  as  to  means  of  stopping  it ;  for  they  at  once  forbad  the 
youth  their  house  and  reproached  him  cruelly  for  having 
abused  the  family  confidence,  taken  advantage  of  their 
generous  hospitality  to  steal  the  affections  of  their  only 
daughter,  the  only  child  they  had  to  uphold  the  grandeur 
of  their  position  :  it  was  wicked,  mean  and  disgraceful 
in  one  of  no  fortune  ever  to  have  thought  of  such  a  thing. 
There  was  nothing  left  for  him  under  the  circumstances 
but  to  submit  for  the  present.  He  received  all  possible 
sympathy  from  his  brother  the  Rector,  who  certainly  was 
astonished  at  the  turn  things  took,  for  tho'  perhaps  he 
may  not  have  put  it  into  actual  language  ever  in  his  own 
mind,  yet  considering  the  immemorial  intimacy  of  the 
two  families,  the  apparent  affection  the  parents  bore  the 
young  man,  and  the  encouragement  they  always  gave  to 
his  visits,  he  could  not  help  dimly  thinking  that  they  meant 
to  give  their  daughter  to  him.  For  awhile  the  youth  was 
overwhelmed  with  this  disaster;  but  partly  his  brother's 
wise  exhortations  and  in  part  from  his  own  energy  of 
character  he  at  length  aroused  himself  to  action  and 
determined  on  his  course. 

He  had  always  been  educated  with  a  view  to  the  Bar  and 
went  thro'  the  preliminary  studies,  but  had  delayed  pur- 
suing his  course  from  time  to  time,  held  in  thrall  by  the 
sweet  society  of  the  girl  he  loved.  But  he  now  resolved  to 
go  straight  to  London,  work  incessantly  at  his  law,  make  a 
name  and  fortune  and  return  a  great  man  and  demand  his 
beloved  in  marriage,  and  he  fully  believed  that  there  was 
nothing  could  prevent  the  fulfilment  of  all  this. 

As  the  parents  had  declared  open  war  and  he  knew  the 
girl  loved  him  perfectly,  he  felt  no  hesitation  in  taking 
his  own  course,  and  contrived  to  obtain  a  short  dangerous 
meeting  with  her  one  night,  when  she  promised  that 
nothing  in  life  should  induce  her  to  act  unfaithfully  towards 
him,  and  he  promised  that  let  happen  what  would  she 
might  rely  on  him  :  and  they  arranged  to  write  to  each 
other  occasionally  to  relate  how  things  stood.  The  parents 
were  glad  when  he  had  gone,  but  as  their  daughter  was 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  221 

reserved  and  unlike  what  she  had  always  been  to  them 
hitherto,  they  saw  they  had  lost  her  confidence,  and  sus- 
pecting she  might  keep  up  some  correspondence  with  her 
lover,  they  used  every  means  until  they  discovered  the 
fact,  probably  through  the  Postmaster  of  the  place,  and 
then  resolutely  destroyed  every  letter  which  passed  between 
the  pair. 

At  first  the  young  lady  continued  her  angel  visits — 
angel  in  goodness  not  in  rarity — to  the  cottages  where  her 
pensive  sweetness  and  deeper  expressed  sympathies  en- 
deared her  still  more  to  their  primitive  and  reverential 
inmates  :  but  gradually  her  sadness  grew  heavier  and  her 
visits  more  seldom,  and  often  attacks  of  illness  would 
suspend  them  altogether.  Gossip  was  pretty  active  among 
the  villagers  during  all  this  time  and  as  may  be  supposed, 
so  far  as  they  dared,  the  character  of  the  Baronet  and  his 
wife  were  roughly  handled  for  their  flint-hearted  cruelty 
in  killing  the  sweet  lady  whom  they  almost  worshipped  : 
the  youth  too  was  a  huge  favourite  with  them  all ;  for  his 
frank,  joyous,  \dgorous  nature  won  every  heart  to  admiration 
and  they  said  he  was  made  for  her. 

The  course  of  things  had  gone  on  in  this  way  for  nearly 
a  year  and  a  half;  the  parents  had  grown  more  stern  and 
cruel  as  they  saw  their  daughter  estranged  from  them 
more  and  more  and  she  rejected  at  once  and  resolutely, 
every  suitor  they  had  trotted  out  for  her  benefit,  and  had 
even  forbidden  her  charitable  visits  to  the  tenantry  :  in 
fact  everything  which  they  knew  she  took  interest  in  was 
denied  her.  She  was  never  allowed  to  see  the  Rector  save 
during  service  at  church,  and  she  could  get  no  tidings 
the  most  remote  from  the  youth,  and  tho'  she  knew  his 
faithfulness  too  well  to  doubt,  yet  this  poor  troubled  unfed 
belief  was  insufficient  to  satisfy  her  soul  and  the  natural 
consequence  followed.  She  lost  her  health,  her  sleep,  and 
became  so  frail  and  weak  that  probably  some  accidental 
illness  attacking  a  form  so  well  prepared  to  receive  it,  made 
a  short  story  of  her  sorrows,  and  she  died  with  a  suddenness 
that  struck  her  parents  with  absolute  horror. 

The  youth  had  been  only  too  faithful  to  his  resolution  to 


222  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

achieve  success.  He  had  worked  with  an  energy  that 
astounded  even  the  most  energetic  workers  at  the  Law : 
all  day  and  half  thro'  the  night  despite  the  serious  remon- 
strances of  friends,  he  ground  and  toiled.  Already  high 
authorities  spoke  of  him  as  one  destined  for  the  highest 
honours,  and  he  himself  almost  began  to  see  something 
like  light  breaking  thro'  the  difficult  ways.  He  had  not 
much  time  for  sadness,  for  altho'  his  brother  kept  him 
informed  in  a  way  softened  by  his  own  kindliness  of  the 
young  lady  so  far  as  he  knew,  he  regarded  his  troubles  as 
certain  to  come  to  end,  and  every  account  did  more  to 
stimulate  his  already  overtasked  brain  to  fresh  exertions 
than  make  him  dwell  on  the  contemplation  of  her  sufferings. 
But  of  late,  as  his  brother  could  give  him  no  detailed  infor- 
mation of  his  love,  some  dreadful  sensation  kept  starting 
up  and  taking  possession  of  his  mind,  and  he  ever  strove  by 
more  fiercely  determined  labour,  as  his  only  salvation 
to  keep  this  horrible  feeling  at  bay;  and  during  these 
mortal  struggles  of  his  soul  he  received  a  letter  from  his 
brother  announcing  the  girl's  sudden  death. 

This  was  almost  too  much  for  any  human  being  to  bear. 
The  whole  structure  of  his  life  that  he  had  been  piling  up 
with  such  energetic  and  loving  endeavour  crushed  down 
with  its  whole  weight  upon  him,  and  his  reason  snapt  like 
the  overdrawn  cord  of  a  bow.  One  cannot  reason  on  what 
a  man  does  who  is  mad.  In  those  days  when  men  dared 
not  go  from  the  Bank  to  Paddington  except  in  companies 
of  twenty  or  more  every  gentleman  kept  arms ;  and  he 
during  the  paroxysm  of  despair  on  the  receipt  of  these 
evil  tidings,  seized  a  weapon  and  slew  himself,  and  fell,  a 
bloody  protestation  against  insatiable  vanity  and  inexorable 
fate. 

With  this  calamity  raw  upon  his  soul  it  was  the  Rector's 
duty  to  preach  the  funeral  sermon  for  the  lost  Beauty. . 
He  was  a  man  who  seemed  very  much  the  opposite  of  this 
brother,  not  joyous,  bright  and  rapid  but  deliberate 
earnest  and  profound,  altho'  perfectly  frank  and  straight- 
forward, he  always  gave  the  notion  of  holding  the  most  of 
his  force  in  reserve;    in  fact  altho'  as  simple  as  a  child  a 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  223 

man  in  no  way  to  be  trifled  with.  He  had  always  been 
immeasurably  fond  of  the  lady,  and  had  it  been  possible 
her  love  for  his  beloved  young  brother  would  have  increased 
his  love;  he  had  watched  their  career  with  something  of 
saddened  tho'  peculiarly  vivid  interest  which  was  ever  his 
wont  to  take  in  all  lovely  things  :  and  he  had  endeavoured 
to  come  to  some  kind  of  understanding  with  the  parents 
vainly,  but  tho'  he  from  his  character  and  position  could 
not  be  treated  with  the  flagrant  scorn  his  brother  suffered, 
still  their  haughty  conduct  made  it  clear  to  him  that  in 
time  only  was  there  any  hope.  From  the  wonderful  beauty 
of  the  girl,  her  wealth  and  historic  name,  the  number  of 
rejected  suitors,  her  sufferings  and  sudden  death,  her 
romantic  love,  the  interest  attached  to  the  young  man's 
family,  his  high  abilities  and  accomplishments  and  terrible 
end,  the  Rector's  own  lofty  nature  and  well  known  pas- 
sionate eloquence  all  combined  to  create  an  extraordinary 
interest  and  sensation  of  increasing  awe,  as  the  day  came 
on  which  the  sermon  had  to  be  preached.  People  came 
from  far  and  near,  both  great  and  small,  till  the  church  was 
overcrowded  with  a  pained  multitude.  But  whatever 
they  may  have  expected  the  result  of  the  sermon  went 
beyond  their  utmost  imagining. 

From  sepulchral  silence  the  Rector  spoke  tenderly  and 
long,  dwelt  upon  the  sweetness  and  lowliness  of  Christ's 
nature  and  His  infinite  love  for  all  mankind,  how  born 
lowly  He  lived  lowly,  and  used  His  whole  life  striving  to  knit 
men  together  in  brotherly  love ;  and  lastly  and  by  the 
agonies  of  death  bequeathing  to  mankind  the  glory  of  His 
immortal  love,  yielded  His  precious  life  to  seal  and  witness 
His  sincerity.  He  had  taught  men  the  worthlessness  of 
worldly  riches  compared  to  those  spiritual  treasures  which 
the  very  poorest  might  store  up  in  his  soul ;  and  that  even  a 
King  arrayed  in  all  his  glory  could  not  equal  a  wild  lily  of 
the  field,  yet  with  sorrow  he  saw  how  little  heed  was  given 
to  those  truths,  for  which  their  Saviour  had  laboured  and 
died  in  ignominy  amid  the  taunts  and  sneers  of  a  Jewish 
multitude,  like  a  felon  nailed  to  a  cross.  He  saw  that 
riches  were  sought  for  and  prized  as  greedily  as  they  had 


224  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

ever  been ;  that  pride  in  empty  honours  seemed  to  strengthen 
with  the  ages  of  the  world. 

He  said  they  had  all  congregated  to  solemnise  the  burial 
of  a  fair  young  sister  in  whom,  if  ever  to  any  mortal  creature, 
the  gentle  Spirit  of  Christ  had  entered.  One  so  fair  and 
good  that  she  carried  the  brightness  of  sunshine  with  her 
as  she  moved,  and  left  cheerfulness,  happy  memories  and 
gratitude  wherever  she  had  been. 

Angel-faced  and  angel-hearted  she  seemed  lent  to  us 
by  her  Maker  as  testimony  of  His  bountiful  goodness,  as 
an  inspiration  and  a  sign  of  what  may  be  attained  by 
worship  and  devoted  adherence  to  His  will  on  this  earth. 
Then  was  it  possible  any  wretch  could  be  found  in  this 
great  land,  that  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  had  been 
taught  by  lifelong  service  of  zealous  priests  of  His  Word 
and  the  blood  quenched  in  flame  of  holy  martyrs ;  was  it 
possible  any  being  could  be  found,  who  could  wilfully 
injure  one  so  innocently  sweet  and  sacred  in  her  whole 
life ;  was  there  any  savage  or  abandoned  outcast  even  who 
could  regard  one  so  gifted  with  other  feelings  than  joy  and 
wonder  ? 

With  sickened  heart  and  humiliation  he  was  bound  to 
say  that  such  had  been  found  !  but  where  ?  from  the 
purlieus  of  vice  and  degradation  ?  No,  not  there  !  And  if 
he  could  lift  his  voice  into  a  high  loud  cry  of  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  and  proclaim  where  such  had  been  found,  as 
with  the  trump  of  doom,  it  would  awaken  a  universal 
shock  of  incredulity  as  something  too  monstrous,  too  far 
from  nature  to  be  believed,  but  so  it  is,  the  breakers  of  this 
beautiful  vessel  were  her  own  parents  !  They  it  was  who 
denied  her  access  to  her  little  cottage  flocks,  that  she  fed 
with  happiness  of  spiritual  food.  They  who  strove  to 
make  her  false  to  her  love  and  false  to  her  God  in  Heaven  : 
and  seeing  her  droop  and  pine  and  sicken  day  by  day,  could 
only  harden  more  their  hard  hearts  and  pile  upon  her 
gentle  spirit  the  load  of  oppression  yet  more  heavily,  till 
the  burden  was  too  sore  to  be  borne,  and  she  the  Darling 
of  all  hearts  could  find  peace  nowhere  but  in  the  stillness  of 
death.     Of  what  value  now  can  be  all  their  pride  of  ancestry 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  225 

and  boundless  wealth,  and  what  can  save  them  from  the 
hissing  scorn  of  their  fellow  mortals,  and  the  burning  stings 
of  their  own  conscience — parents  solitary,  childness  and 
unloved  !  His  mind  borne  on  a  storm  of  passion,  denounced 
pride  and  avarice  and  hardheartedness  and  all  those  dreadful 
worldly  vices  that  had  brought  about  this  fearful  calamity, 
till  there  were  sobbings  and  moanings  and  deep  groans 
throughout  the  congregation  and  great  agitation.  The 
mother  uttered  a  sharp  cry  and  fell  into  a  fit,  causing  a  wild 
commotion  throughout  the  church,  while  the  Baronet  sat 
in  a  paralysis  of  stupor  seemingly  unmindful  of  everything, 
and  they  had  to  be  taken  home  in  their  coach,  where  the 
mother  after  a  few  days'  acute  suffering  died.  The  Baronet 
lived  a  year  or  two  longer  an  utterly  changed  man,  shut 
up  from  visitors  and  incapable  of  managing  his  affairs  in 
any  way,  in  fact  almost  an  imbecile  till  he  died. 

The  estate  passed  into  the  hands  of  one  of  another 
family,  who  demolished  the  house  and  let  all  the  land  out 
in  farms  under  the  management  of  an  agent ;  so  that  the 
villages  changed  their  character  entirely  and  the  beautiful 
young  mistress  the  tenantry  had  all  so  loved,  was  seen 
through  memory  as  the  spirit  of  a  golden  time  that  de- 
parted with  her ;  and  for  long  years  after  the  Rector  was 
thought  of  as  the  avenging  angel  to  wreak  judgment  upon 
those  hardhearted  ones  who  caused  all  the  desolation; 
and  with  this  belief  the  old  men  might  well  say  "  there 
never  was  anything  like  it  :  that  sermon  will  never  be 
forgotten  :  it  was  the  death  of  them  both." 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringfordy 

July  10,  1862. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

The  story  ^  is  very  grand  and  very  finely  told  we 
think.  The  arrangement  and  form  are  so  good.  Best 
thanks  for  it.  Yes,  Mrs.  George  Pat  mo  re  wrote  to  me 
simply  announcing  the  death.  It  is  a  terrible  thing  for 
him  indeed. 


1  " 


Aylmer's  Field." 


226  THOMAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 

Do  you  know  that  your  name  was  almost  the  last  word 
she  spoke? 

I  felt  sure  you  would  like  Dr.  Temple.  There  is  a  child- 
like transparency  about  him  I  think  but  I  do  not  know  him 
well. 

•  ••••• 

I  feel  that  I  have  not  half  enough  thanked  you  for  having 
taken  so  much  trouble  about  the  story,  nor  expressed  what 
I  think  of  its  grand  capabilities.     I  hope  he  will  do  it. 

[Signature  missing.] 


Mrs.  Carlyle  to  T.  Woolner 

Holme  Hill, 
Thornhill, 

DUMFRIES ! !  ! 
August  13  [1862]. 
My  jdear  Mr.  Woolner, 

A  thousand  thanks  for  having  done  for  me  so  much 
more  than  you  led  me  to  hope  !  I  shall  be  glad  and  thank- 
ful to  possess  even  a  plain  photograph  of  Mrs.  Twisleton ; 
for  either  money  or  love  or  for  the  credit  of  Mr.  Dickinson's 
name  !  The  long  letter  amounts  to  this,  it  seems  to  me, 
"if  we  had  known  that  the  obscure  looking  Female  who 
stalked  quite  promiscuously  into  our  shop  had  borne  the 
not  obscure  title  of  Mrs.  Thomas  Carlyle,  we  would  have 
treated  her  with  less  abruptness  and  hauteur  !  " — But 
on  any  terms  as  I  have  said,  I  shall  gratefully  receive  the 
photograph  which  can  be  got  nowhere  else  ! 

Go  and  see  my  unfortunate  Husband  who,  like  "  the  last 
rose  of  summer  is  left  blooming  alone  "  at  Cheyne  Row  ! 
And  go  often,  if  you  please,  till  I  come  back  !  I  cannot 
expand  myself  on  paper,  because  of  the  pen  !  which  is  a 
steel  one,  and  it  is  like  writing  with  the  point  of  a  scewer !  ^ 
Tell  me  if  anything  happens  to  you  while  I  am  here — and 
believe  me  always. 

Affectionately  yours, 

Jane  W.  Carlyle. 

In  after  years  the  Sculptor's  wife  had  a  very  similar 
experience.  One  evening  when  dining  out,  she  was  taken 
in  to  dinner  by  a  somebody  who  had  not  caught  her  name, 

^  Skewer. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  227 

and  who  thought  a  good  deal  of  himself,  and  took  little 
trouble  to  entertain  his  neighbour.  After  dinner,  in  the 
drawing-room  he  came  up  to  her  and  said,  "  Mrs.  Woolner, 
if  I  had  known  who  you  were  I  should  have  paid  you 
more  attention ! " 


The  Rev.  H.  Montagu  Butler  to  T.  Woolner 

Harrow,  October  7,  1862. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Many  pressing  duties  during  the  last  ten  days — a  time 
here  of  much  anxiety — have  combined  to  make  me  appear 
ungrateful  for  your  kindness.  .  .  .  The  three  Photographs, 
in  that  singularly  graceful  and  appropriate  frame,  will  be 
among  my  favourite  art  treasures.  The  frame  will  hang 
in  an  honoured  place  in  my  study,  and  will  have  as  a  near 
neighbour  a  lithograph  of  Hare's  much  loved  Library 
which  Mrs.  Hare  most  kindly  gave  me  some  months  ago.  .  . 
Judging  from  the  Photographs  I  feel  most  thankful  that 
I  was  led  to  ask  you  to  undertake  the  very  difficult  task 
of  making  the  Bust  of  a  man  you  had  never  seen.  I 
only  saw  him  once,  but  the  likeness  seems  to  me  most 
excellent,  giving  a  very  earnest  &  faithful  record  of  a 
very  earnest  &  high-minded  man.  I  shall  be  much  sur- 
prised if  Hare's  dearest  friends  and  persons  who  can  judge 
wisely  of  a  work  of  art,  are  not  pretty  unanimous  in 
gratitude  to  you. 

You  have  enabled  me  to  gratify  far  more  fully  than 
I  could  have  hoped  for  a  longing  desire  to  show  my  affec- 
tionate reverence  for  Trinity,  while  paying  respect  to  the 
memory  of  an  illustrious  Trinity  man.  This  is  indeed  a 
great  service. 

And  now  I  have  to  confess  a  barefaced  act  of  robbery. 
I  positively  refuse  to  restore  the  fourth  of  the  four  Photo- 
graphs that  you  first  sent  me.  The  other  three  shall 
return  forthwith.  But  the  fourth,  which  gives  a  peculiar 
profile  of  Hare  such  as  I  fancy  I  remember,  I  must  & 
will  keep. 

Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  let  me  know  what  I  owe 
you?  .... 


Believe  me  to  be 

Very  truly  yours, 

H.  Montagu  Butler. 


228  THOIVIAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 


T.  WooLXER  TO  F.  T.  Palgrave 

Burton  Park,  Petworth, 

October  12,  1862. 

My  dear  Palgrave, 

I  have  been  day  after  day  intending  to  write  to  yon. 
.  .  .  Take  my  heartiest  thanks  for  your  most  generous 
letter.  I  gratefully  accept  your  permission  to  say  no 
more  about  the  £500  till  the  time  comes  when  I  can  repay 
you. 

.  .  .  You  are  assuredly  the  most  generous  fellow  I  have 
ever  kno^\Ti  and  had  it  not  been  for  you  I  should  never  have 
made  the  start  which  I  think  I  now  have  made.     I  could 
not  help  showing  your  letter  to  Fairbairn  who  has  the  most 
affectionate  interest  in  ever\i:hing  relating  to  you  and  he 
said  on  returning  it  "  This  is  a  most  noble  fellow."     Mrs. 
Fairbairn  says  that  she  takes  more  interest  in  seeing  Hunt, 
you  and  me  well  married  than  in  any  other  friends  of  hers. 
I  always  told  you  that  the  Fairbairns  liked  you  vervmuch 
but  I  never  knew  myself  till  now  how  vivid  their  affection 
was   towards    you.     Your   mention    of  the   Ladye  ^  gives 
me  a  very  agreeable  notion  of  her  character,  and  I  feel 
quite  sure  that  you  have  chosen  wisely.  ...  I  feel  a  great 
desire  to  make  her  acquaintance  ....  I  leave  here  to- 
morrow for  Sir  John  Simeon's,  I.  of  Wight — ^then  if  I  can 
shall  spend  a  few  days  with  the  Tennysons  en  route  home. 
My  hohday  has  done*^me  a  world  of  good.   ...  I  spent  the 
best  part  of  two  days  with  the  mighty  Thomas  to  help  get 
those  phos.  of  him  and  am  glad  they  have  turned  out  so 
well.  ... 

Affectionately  thine, 

Thos.   Woolner. 


The  following  letter  is  in  answer  to  an  invitation  from 
Woolner  asking  Carlyle  to  come  and  spend  the  evening  with 
him  at  Welbeck  Street  to  meet  Captain  Sherard  Osborn, 
Mr.  Lay  and  Mr.  Gladstone — the  two  former  being  well 
versed  in  matters  concerning  China. 

^  F.  T.  PaIg^ave'sy?rt^?ce€,  Miss  Cecil  Milnes-Gaskell. 


LORD    LAWRENCE,    CALCUTTA,     1875 


[To  face  page  229. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  229 

T.  Carlyle  to  Thomas  Woolner 

Chelsea, 
November  30,  1862. 
Dear  Woolner, 

If  I  could  but  get  myself  under  way,  on  such  a  voyage 
at  night  !  But  alas,  I  fear  that  will  be  impossible  on 
Tuesday. 

Pirates  are  fair  game  on  all  waters,  on  the  part  of  all 
men.  But  does  Capt°  Osborn  know  for  certain  that  the 
Taepings  ^  require  to  be  shot  ?  One  Mr.  Meadows,  a  very 
ingenious  man,  who  had  been  12  years  in  China,  and  is 
gone  back,  had,  when  I  saw  him,  the  idea  that  the  Taepings 
were  intrinsically  in  the  right ;  and  that  it  was  the  unwor- 
thy Phantasm  of  an  "  Emperor  "  and  his  yellow  Cousins 
who  got  hopelessly  out  of  square  ! 

Yours  always  truly, 

T.  Cariyle. 


T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

December  2,  1862. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

•  ••••• 

I  had  a  glorious  night  this  day  w^eek  with  Sherard  Osborn 
and  Mr.  Lay  his  chief  :  I  learned  more  of  Chinese  nature 
and  the  future  politics  of  their  government  than  I  ever  knew 
before.  Both  of  them  are  coming  here  this  evening  and 
Mr.  Gladstone  is  coming  too  to  discuss  matters  Chinese ;  so 
that  I  expect  it  will  be  highly  entertaining.  S.  Osborn 
said  he  enjoyed  the  evening  he  spent  here  with  the  Bard 
hugely,  and  told  me  shyly  that  he  almost  worshipped 
Tennyson.  Froude  also  told  me  that  he  did  not  know 
how  to  express  his  gratitude  to  me  for  having  given  him  the 
chance  of  meeting  the  Bard  again. 

I  should  like  you  to  see  a  wonderful  Eagle  by  Haehnel 
that  we  have  here. 
My  love  to  the  boys. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Thos  :  Woolner. 

^  Note  by  Mr.  Alexander  Carlyle.  "  A  political  party  m.  China.  See 
living's  Annals  of  our  Tim^,  p.  320. — A.  C." 


230  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

December  5,  1862. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  rejoice  to  hear  that  you  are  so  busy.  You  must  not 
spend  spare  minutes  in  writing  when  reading  is  so  much 
better  for  you.  Yes,  A.  is  going  on  with  the  poem.^  He 
takes  walks  often  now  that  the  tourists  are  gone.  I  think 
the  beginning  of  the  poem  very  fine,  my  chief  objection 
to  it  is  that  it  must  necessarily  be  so  indignant  in  its  tone. 

•  ••••• 

With  Alfred's  love  I  am, 

IMost  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

[1863]  Woolner  went  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  to  Wal- 
lington,  Newcastle  and  York,  and  met  amongst  others  his 
old  friend  W.  B.  Scott,  with  whom  he  went  long  walks  on 
the  moors.  Soon  after  his  return  to  London  he  received 
the  following  letter  offering  him  the  commission  to  do  the 
Statue  of  John  Robert  Godley. 

Sir  John  Simeon  to  T.  Woolner 

Swainston, 
February  3  [1863.] 

My  dear  Woolner, 

The  Colony  of  Canterbury  New  Zealand  are  desirous 
of  putting  up  a  Bronze-statue  to  their  Founder  John  Godley, 
who  was  one  of  my  oldest  and  dearest  friends.  The 
carrying  out  of  this  intention  has  been  entrusted  to  a 
Committee  in  England  consisting  of  Lord  R*^  Cavendish, 
C.  Wynne,  Godley's  brother-in-law,  L^  Lyttleton  &  myself 
with  power  to  add  to  our  numbers.  The  other  members 
of  the  Committee  have  thought  fit  to  place  the  matter  in 
my  hands,  &  I  have  accepted  the  responsibility  of  under- 
taking its  main  conduct.  It  will  give  me  the  greatest 
pleasure  if  you  will  undertake  the  work.  I  wish  you  had 
known  Godley  well.  You  may  have  met  him  with  me. 
He  was  one  of  the  truest  and  noblest  of  men,  with  qualities 
of  head  and  heart  combined  that  I  have  never  seen  equalled. 
Devotion  to  duty  &  unbending  determination  to  do  the 

1  "  Aylmer's  Field." 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  231 

work  he  had  to  perforin  were  his  principal  characteristics. 
We  have  Photographs  &  a  miniature  of  him,  not  much 
you  will  say,  but  his  portrait  is  very  indelibly  engraved 
on  the  hearts  of  many  attached  friends  who  knew  &  loved 
him,  &  who  will  all  put  their  memories  at  y^  service. 
The  Statue  is  meant  to  be  in  bronze  &  the  Sum  voted  is 
£1500.  Not  enough  I  believe,  but  there  is  not  practically 
any  limit.  .  .  .  Write  soon  &  say  you  accept  the  task 
assigned. 

Yrs  most  truly, 

John  Simeon. 

Woolner  was  delighted  to  undertake  the  work;  on  his 
acceptance  he  received  the  following  letter. 

Swainston, 

FebrvAiry  6,  1863. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

Many  thanks  for  y"^  note — I  am  delighted  that 
you  are  able  to  undertake  the  Statue.  I  forgot  to  say  that 
it  was  meant  to  be  in  Bronze,  but  I  take  if  for  granted 
that  that  material  is  as  much  in  y'^  department  as  marble. 
Will  you  give  me  one  line  on  this  point  by  return  of 
post?  .  .  . 

Y"^^  in  haste  very  truly, 

John  Simeon. 

On  March  4,  he  received  the  official  confirmation  of 
the  commission  to  execute  a  colossal  statue  of  Godley  in 
bronze. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

About  this  time  Woolner  saw  a  great  deal  of  the  Carlyles. 
On  April  28  ^  he  describes  a  visit  of  special  interest : 
"  Mrs.  Carlyle  called  upon  me  one  afternoon.  She  wanted 
me  to  take  tea  at  her  house  and  go  afterwards  with  her 
husband  to  the  Hanover  Sq.  Rooms  to  hear  Chas.  Dickens 
read,  as  she  said  that  Dickens  had  sent  Carlyle  2  tickets 
with  an  intimation  that  it  would  do  him  good  to  hear  a 
little  reading.  She  was  not  strong  enough  to  go  with  him, 
and  he  had  made  it  a  condition  that  she  must  persuade 
me  to  go  with  him  or  he  would  not  go  himself.  I  went 
to  Chelsea,  had  tea,  and  we  took  a  cab  to  Hanover  Sq.  We 
found  the  room  crowded,  and  soon  after  we  were  seated 
C.  Dickens  appeared  I  need  scarcely  say  amidst  loud  wel- 
comes. He  was  the  best  reader  I  ever  heard,  and  the 
changes  of  voice  and  manner  suitable  to  the  various  charac- 
ters were  so  easy  and  natural  they  appeared  before  the 
audience  like  veritable  living  beings.  But  I  must  say  with 
regret  that  the  performance  was  a  terrible  strain  upon  the 
reader's  vital  energies,  as  it  was  clear  that  his  whole  mind 
was  concentrated  upon  the  long  continuous  effort.  The 
Reading  was  divided  into  two  parts  of  an  hour  each,  with 
an  interval  for  rest  of  10  minutes.  When  the  1st  part 
was  over  Dickens  came  and  took  Carlyle  away  to  an  inner 
room,  and  in  a  minute  or  two  after  Carlyle  came  to  fetch 
me  '  to  have  some  brandy  and  water  '  but  I  said  I  wanted 
no  brandy  &  water;  he  insisted  that  I  must  have  some, 
and  I  went  accordingly.  Within  the  room  the  brandy 
soon  appeared  and  each  poured  out  a  portion  for  himself 
and  Carlyle  took  his  glass  and  nodding  to  Dickens  said  : 
'  Charley,  you  carry  a  whole  company  of  actors  under  your 

1  1863. 

232 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  233 

own  hat.'  The  second  part  of  the  Reading  was  equally 
well  done,  and  Carlyle  had  nothing  but  praises  to  bestow 
upon  it,  but  I  confess  to  being  filled  with  doleful  forebodings 
as  to  the  effect  of  these  readings  upon  the  writer's  health,  as 
I  thought  he  must  be  using  up  his  splendid  faculties  too 
rapidly." — ^T.  Woolner. 

As  early  as  1861  Woolner  had  been  given  the  commission 
to  design  figures  and  reliefs  for  the  New  Assize  Courts  in 
Manchester,  and  from  1863  to  1867  he  was  at  work  on  these. ^ 
The  circular  alto-relief  of  the  Judgment  of  Solomon  had 
on  either  side  of  it  a  figure  of  the  good  woman  and  the 
drunken  woman;  and  in  writing  about  them  in  1863,  Mr. 
Alfred  Waterhouse,  the  architect  of  the  Assize  Courts,  says  : 
"  The  Solomon  Women  have  come  to  hand.  We  are  all 
delighted  with  your  virtuous  woman,  and  disgusted  as  we 
ought  to  be  with  the  awful  example." 

T.  Woolner  to  Coventry  Patmore 

29,  WeWeck  Street,  W., 

February  23,  1863. 

My  dear  Patmore, 

I  read  your  letter  to  Froude  and  thought  it  most 
satisfactory  as  a  statement  of  your  notion  of  the  critics' 
cunning  and  of  Froude's  own  courtesy.  I  sent  it  on  to 
him.  .  .  .  You  think  far  too  highly  of  any  trifling  service 
that  I  wish  to  render  you,  and  are  much  too  modest  in 
thinking  you  have  no  claims.  To  have  lived  a  simple 
dignified  life,  thoroughly  eschewing  the  gaudy  vulgarities 
that  delight  so  many  :  at  great  sacrifices  to  have  steadily 
thro'  sharp  difficulties  pursued  one  object  that  you  truly 
believed  would  benefit  your  fellow  creatures,  and  to  have 
done  this  with  infinite  temptation  for  luring  you  into 
an  easier  path  resisted,  seems  to  me  to  constitute  very 
strong  claims  upon  any  one  who  has  been  able  to  recognize 
the  worth  of  such  a  life  as  yours — I  can  only  hope  that  the 
unknown  enemies  who  fill  the  Press  may  have  their  minds 
changed  and  not  bespatter  your  idea  so  thickly  with  mud 
that  the  public  cannot  see  what  it  is  and  how  it  is  fashioned. 
I  do  not  marvel  at  the  thought  which  haunts  your  life; 

^  There  were  eight  figures  of  England's  greatest  lawgivers,  a  large  statue 
of  Moses  with  the  Tables  of  the  Law,  and  two  bas-reliefs. 


234  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

tho'  the  same  vivid  happiness  that  you  have  known  you 
can  hardly  know  again,  the  present  natural  gloom  will  give 
way  to  something  far  different  and  better.  I  have  seen 
after  some  almost  painfully  magnifieent  sunset  a  passage 
of  darkness  followed  by  light  transcendently  tender  :  and 
it  has  seemed  that  the  pathetic  beauty  I  saw  there  hanging 
over  the  mysterious  earth  came  on  me  with  even  a  dearer 
sympathy,  gave  my  spirit  a  sense  of  deeper  rest,  and  more 
spoke  to  me  hints  of  immortality,  than  when  I  had  gazed 
upon  its  fullest  glory  :  and  altho'  my  spirit  may  have  been 
overcast  with  mournfulness,  yet  the  pathos  held  within 
itself  something  more  sacred  and  sweeter  than  joy.  So  that 
in  my  vision  I  see  you  for  years  to  come,  amid  a  rich  harvest 
from  your  labours,  and  beholding  your  children  flourishing 
like  young  vines  around  (I  write  in  tropes  and  images  but 
you  will  know  my  meaning).  So  you  must  cheer  up  and 
not,  or  try  not  to  think  too  much  of  what  drags  with  such 
strong  temptation.  I  most  deeply  and  warmly  sympathize 
with  all  your  trials  and  grief,  and  trust  that  time  will  deal 
gently  by  you. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thos  :   WoOLNER. 

Coventry  Patmore  to  T.  Woolner 

May  26  [1863  ?]. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

When  you  have  finished  reading  vol.  2  of  the 
"  Angel  "  I  should  be  much  pleased  if  you  would  write  me 
a  line  or  two  as  to  its  general  effect  upon  you. 

I  value  your  opinion  very  much,  and  if  there  is  anything 
that  strikes  you  either  as  wanting  or  superfluous  I  should 
be  glad  to  have  the  opportunity  of  considering  of  it,  before 
coming  out  with  the  final  one-vol.  edition. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Coventry  Patmore. 

William  Allingham  to  T.  Woolner 

Lymington, 

May  29  [1863]. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

How  arc  you  getting  on  these  fine  days?  I  find 
this  place  charming,  walked  on  Wednesday  to  Beaulieu, 
7  or  8  miles,  where  in  rich  wooded  vale  stand  the  remnants 


I 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  235 

of  King  John's  Abbey,  not  ruins  because  part  is  the  present 
Church,  &  in  the  Abbot's  House  dwells  now  and  again  the 
D.  of  Buccleuch,  lord  of  the  manor,  who  shuts  up  roads  here, 
though  he  couldn't  stop  the  Thames  Embankment. 

The  j  oiliest  thing  is  a  farm  house  called  Abbey  Walls, 
with  the  monks'  huge  barn  (225  feet  long)  still  in  use  as  a 
barn,  though  not  in  its  full  old  size.  The  nightingales 
were  singing  everywhere.  When  will  you  come  down  & 
walk  or  boat  to  Beaulieu  or  elsewhere  ?  I  am  in  lodgings 
(Mrs.  Rice's)  on  the  shore  road,  facing  the  Isle  of  W.  but 
have  taken  a  cottage  &  hope  to  be  in  it  in  a  week  or  two. 
Have  been  twice  on  the  Island,  but  seen  nothing  of  the 
Tennysons.  Have  you  any  news  of  them  lately  ?  T.  will 
likely  be  going  somewhere  on  a  summer  tour  shortly?  I 
should  like  very  much  to  see  him  but  hesitate  to  call. 

Yours  always, 

W.  Allingham. 


Mrs.  Combe  to  T.  Woolner 

University  Press,  Oxford, 

August  17  [1863]. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  rejoice  the  cast  has  come  out  so  well  and  has  elicited 
such  favorable  testimony  from  your  friends.  Of  this 
however  I  am  certain — that  none  of  them  can  admire  it  as 
much  as  I  do.  No,  not  even  Hunt.  .  .  .  We  are  to  quit 
Oxford  mid-day  Wednesday  for  Dover,  whence  by  way  of 
Calais  we  shall  proceed  to  Brussels.  .  .  . 

l^th. — Since  writing  the  above,  dear  Mr.  Woolner,  St. 
John  Baptist  has  arrived  and  is  safe  in  the  Sisters'  keeping. 
The  opening  scene  was  exciting  and  the  pleasure  of  the  good 
Sisters  when  the  beautiful  embodiment  of  their  patron 
Saint  was  revealed  to  them  was  quite  touching.  Miss 
Nelson  was  happily  returned  and  her  sweet  mild  eyes 
beamed  with  delight.  Sister  Jane  and  I  quitted  at  last 
disturbed  by  a  host  of  sins  of  omission.  The  little  I  have 
read  of  your  poem  has  highly  impressed  me.  .  .  . 
With  our  most  kind  regards. 

Believe  me  ever. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 
Yours  very  sincerely, 

M.  Combe. 


236  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Thomas  Combe  to  T.  Woolner 

August  18,  1863. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

•  ••••• 

Your  "  beautiful  Ladv  "  shall  be  corrected  as  vou  desire 
&  another  proof  sent  to  you.  Then  it  will  be  plain  sailing, 
and  we  shall  soon  get  thro'  it.     Will  you  sell  the  copyright  ? 

I  am  delighted  to  hear  that  you  are  to  bust  Gladstone — 
he  has  a  good  head  and  will  do  you  credit.  Y^  Sun  is  com- 
ing out  &  you  may  prepare  for  greater  things.  .  .  .  The 
next  proofs  I  send  to  Ha  war  den.  .  .  . 

Thanks  for  kind  wishes.     St.  John  is  come. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Th.  Combe. 

Woolner  had  been  given  a  commission  to  do  the  bust  of 
the  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone,  and  in  August  Mr.  Gladstone 
wrote  to  suggest  various  times  for  the  sittings. 

Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  T.  Woolner 

Hawarden,  Chester, 

August  14,  1863. 
Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Mr.  Palgrave  has  conveyed  to  me  your  kind  offer. 
I  have  written  to  him  all  my  doubts  &  scruples  &  in 
conscience  I  wish  I  could  dissuade  you.  But  all  human 
affairs  mainly  turn  upon  woman,  and  my  wife  insists  upon 
my  leaving  you  to  your  fate.  I  have  therefore  only  to 
say  that  the  choice  lies  between  (1)  Your  coming  here  be- 
tween this  time  &  the  30^^,  &  I  am  to  say  my  Mother- 
in-law,  and  standing  Host,  would  be  most  happy  to  see 
you.  (2)  Your  doing  the  like  considerably  later  in  the  year. 
(3)  My  sitting  to  you  in  Welbeck  Street  on  the  occasion 
of  my  visits  to  town  which  would  begin  probably  to  be 
pretty  steady  from  about  the  middle  of  October.  Pray 
choose  what  may  suit  you.  If  you  came  here  the  2.45  train 
is  good  &  you  would  come  on  from  Chester  to  Broughton, 
letting  us  know. 

Believe  me. 

Very  truly  yours, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 


ALFRED    TENNYSON,     1873 
Exhibited  in  1876. 


[To  face  page  237. 


I 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  237 

T.  WOOLNER  TO  Rt.  HoN.  W.  E.  GLADSTONE 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

August  17,  1863. 
Dear  Mr.  Gladstone. 

I  have  long  wished  to  make  a  bust  of  you,  but  know- 
ing the  great  value  of  your  time  I  never  had  enough  bold- 
ness to  take  measures  for  the  purpose,  so  that  you  must 
know  how  proud  and  grateful  I  now  feel  at  being  allowed 
to  fulfil  my  wishes ;  and  I  beg  you  will  give  Mrs.  Gladstone 
my  sincere  thanks  for  having  rendered  such  efficient  aid, 
and  assurances  that  my  best  efforts  will  not  be  wanting  to 
do  justice  to  her  good  offices.  As  you  kindly  give  me  my 
choice  and  I  rather  dread  delays,  I  will  take  advantage  of 
No.  1  proposition  and  start  to-morrow  (18*^)  by  the  2.45 
train  for  Hawarden.  I  have  sent  my  clay,  modelling  stool, 
etc.,  off  to-day  addressed  to  you  to  avoid  mistakes  :  your 
servants  will  consider  them  uncouth  and  unintelligible 
arrivals,  and  might  have  refused  them  with  a  name  they 
did  not  know  attached.  Pray  give  your  brother-in-law  my 
kindest  thanks  for  generously  giving  me  this  early  oppor- 
tunity of  doing  what  I  have  so  long  wished  to  do. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Thos:  Woolner. 

Woolner  arrived  at  Hawarden  on  August  18,  prepared 
the  clay  the  next  day,  and  the  day  after  he  began  to  model 
the  bust  which  he  finished  on  31st.  He  had  a  very  pleasant 
and  interesting  visit,  and  soon  made  friends  with  Mr. 
Gladstone's  young  sons  Henry  and  Herbert.  Mrs.  Glad- 
stone was  most  kind  and  helpful  arranging  for  as  many 
sittings  as  she  could.  Both  Mr.  Gladstone  and  Woolner 
prided  themselves  on  their  quickness  in  dressing,  and  one 
evening  they  raced  each  other  and  both  came  out  of  their 
rooms  at  the  same  moment ! 

This  bust  of  Mr.  Gladstone  was  carved  later  on  by  the 
Sculptor  and  placed  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford,  and 
on  three  sides  of  the  pedestal  were  inserted  marble  bas- 
reliefs,  subjects  from  Homer's  Iliad,  designed  as  a  compli- 
ment to  Mr.  Gladstone's  study  and  knowledge  of  Greek 
art.     The  three  subjects  are — 

Thetis  imploring  Zeus;  Achilles  shouting  from  the 
Trenches;  Thetis  rousing  Achilles. 


238  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Woolner  carved  and  gave  to  the  Royal  Academy  as  his 
Diploma  work  the  bas-relief  of  "  Achilles  shouting  from 
the  Trenches,"  upon  his  election  as  Royal  Academician 
in  1874. 

A  third  was  carved  for  Mr.  Charles  Jenner. 

Mrs.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  T.  Woolner 

Penmaenmawr, 

September  14  [1863]. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

The  arrival  of  the  valuable  photograph  caused  quite 
a  sensation.  I  had  already  seized  upon  it  and  placed  it 
in  my  room — till  your  letter  arrived,  and  now  I  will  take 
care  it  is  placed  in  "  the  Temple  of  Peace,"  it  is  excellent, 
&  with  its  autograph  very  valuable  &  much  prized. 
Many  thanks  to  you  for  being  so  kind  as  to  send  it  to  us — 
all  so  well  framed  and  good  throughout.  I  rejoice  in  what 
you  tell  me  about  the  bust — &  am  not  surprised  it  is 
approved  of — you  deserve  it  should  have  succeeded  for 
you  have  searched  deeply  and  stamped  upon  it  what  makes 
it  so  valuable,  God's  gifts  written  upon  that  countenance  ! 
I  shall  long  to  see  it  in  marble.  We  are  enjoying  bathing 
and  mountains  and  peace,  such  a  snug  party — the  dear 
little  boys  are  gone  wh.  is  a  loss  reminding  one  that  com- 
plete happiness  is  not  to  last  here.  I  shall  give  them  your 
message — they  will  not  forget  how  kind  you  were  to  them 
— poor  darlings  at  the  end  of  their  journey  to  school  they 
were  both  found  fast  asleep  in  the  train  like  the  babes  in 
the  wood.    All  here  desire  to  be  most  kindly  remembered. 

Believe  me. 

Yours  sincerely, 

Cath.  Gladstone. 

My  Husband  is  to  go  to  the  Queen  at  Balmoral  next 
week. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

Freshwater,  I.W., 

October  6,  1863. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

When  are  you  coming  ?  We  hear  you  have  made  a  very 
successful  bust  of  Gladstone,  and  that  you  have  been  visit- 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  239 

ing  Froude.    I  hope  you  have  been  happy.     Success,  too, 
to  "  The  Beautiful  Lady,"  who  is  dawning  on  the  world. 
With  the  kind  love  of  A.  and  the  boys, 
Ever  most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

T,  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

Salcojnbe, 

Kingsbridge,  Devon, 

October  8,  1863. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

I  have  been  at  this  place  a  week  with  Froude  and 
have  had  one  lovely  day.  But  altho'  the  weather  has 
been  bad,  yet  with  the  kindness  of  my  host  and  hostess 
and  the  real  beauty  of  the  scenery  despite  rain,  I  have 
enjoyed  my  holiday  greatly.  I  had  first  to  go  into  the 
remote  wilds  of  Staffordshire  to  see  a  Captain  friend,  bosom 
friend  of  Sherard  Osborn,  married ;  it  took  much  coin  and 
time  to  do  it,  but  the  sight  of  the  whole  thing  was  so  in- 
teresting it  quite  repaid  the  trouble.  The  lady  was  so 
beloved  that  the  town  of  Leek  gave  itself  a  holiday,  and 
all  the  population  crowded  the  church  and  streets  to  see  the 
marriage  and  procession  of  carriages  :  the  prettiest  part 
of  the  show  was  210  little  girls  clad  in  white  and  with  a 
blue  ribbon  adorned  with  silver  anchor  across  each  breast, 
and  wreaths  of  flowers  on  their  heads  :  a  certain  number 
of  them  lined  the  porch,  and  path  of  churchyard  and  steps 
strewing  flowers  as  the  bridal  procession  passed.  The 
lady  is  a  great  heiress,  and  these  little  girls  were  the  scholars 
of  a  big  school  which  she  had  established  for  them.  They 
had  a  ball  in  the  evening,  and  it  was  a  sight  to  see  the 
energy  of  those  young  creatures  dancing.  If  the  brave 
deserve  the  fair,  the  Captain  certainly  did  his  bride,  for  he 
fought  the  Lee  gunboat  for  many  hours  within  90  yards  of 
one  of  the  Taku  forts  on  the  Peiho,  and  had  his  vessel  sunk 
by  the  Chinese  shot,  and  he  had  with  his  few  surviving 
men  to  cling  for  5  hours,  fired  at  the  whole  time  by  those 
Johnnys,  on  the  stump  of  his  mainmast,  which  was  all 
that  remained  out  of  water. 

I  had  a  most  pleasant  visit  at  Hawarden  Castle  doing 
Mr.  Gladstone's  bust  :  it  seemed  to  have  been  almost  the 
entire  study  of  Mrs.  Gladstone  to  manage  how  to  let  me 


240  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

have  the  most  of  him  for  my  purpose ;  and  nothing  could 
have  been  better  than  the  way  he  underwent  the  necessary 
infliction  of  sitting.  I  found  him  a  most  fascinating  man 
in  every  way,  and  his  remarks  on  books  and  history,  human 
nature,  and  pohtics  were  all  most  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive. It  would  have  done  your  heart  good  to  have  heard 
the  way  in  which  he  talked  of  the  Bard's  Poems ;  and  the 
extraordinarily  close  acquaintance  which  he  showed  con- 
cerning them. 

It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  ask  me,  but  I  have  not  the  least 
notion  when  I  shall  be  able  to  see  you  again,  for  after  I 
leave  here  I  have  to  stay  a  few  days  at  Nettlecombe  with 
Arch  :  Jermyn,  brother  of  Lady  Trevelyan  and  then  I  must 
get  back  to  work. 

•  •  •  •  •  • 

My  poem  will  not  cost  me  any  money  or  I  should  not 
have  printed  it ;  but  it  has  cost  me  a  great  deal  of  work. 
Mr.  Combe  of  Oxford  asked  me  to  read  it,  and  he  liked  it 
so  much  that  he  was  determined  to  have  it  brought  out; 
so  that  I  had  no  more  bother  beyond  finishing  up  the 
proofs  :  best  thanks  for  your  good  wishes.  My  best  love 
to  the  Poet  and  the  boys. 

Ever  most  truly  yours, 

Thos:  Woolner. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

Freshwater,  I.W., 

October  24,  1863. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

"  My  Beautiful  Lady "  has  come  to  me  to-day, 
thanks  to  your  kind  remembrance.  I  have  only  just 
caught  sight  of  her  as  Alfred  immediately  took  her  to  his 
room.  I  shall  not  see  her  well  until  we  have  another 
tutor. 

•  ••••• 

I  hope  you  are  gaining  strength  and  freshness  for  renewed 
work.  He  will  not  give  "  The  Sermon  "  up,  though  I  advise 
him,  wicked  creature  that  I  am,  you  will  say.  I  long  for 
him  to  be  at  the  "  Sangreal,"  feeling  sure  that  is  his  work 
and  the  days  are  going  fast  for  him  and  for  me.  He  con- 
tinues better,  so  do  I. 

With  kindest  love  from  him  and  the  boys, 

Ever  most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  241 

Coventry  Patmore  to  T.  Woolner 

December  3,  1863. 

Dear  Woolner, 

I  got  back  the  MSS.  I  told  you  about.  There  seems 
to  have  been  nothing  worse  than  carelessness  in  the  delay. 
I  opened  "  Eraser "  yesterday  just  where  the  writer 
abused  the  finest  image  in  your  Poem/  and  one  of  the  finest 
in  any  Poem — that  about  the  moonlight  bringing  forth 
the  name  like  a  shout.  Nothing  could  he  bolder  and  more 
entirely  unexaggerated  at  the  same  time. 

Yours  ever  truly, 

C.  Patmore. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

December  10,  1863. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  am  hard  at  work  on  Macaulay,  and  Godley,  and 
some  of  the  Manchester  statues.  Macaulay  having  had  a 
fat  undefined  face,  I  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  get  the 
likeness  at  all  satisfactory  :  Godley' s  is  much  better  for 
the  purpose,  being  a  thin  man. 

•  ••••• 

I  am  glad  you  were  pleased  with  my  book  on  reading  it 
again;  but  I  cannot  well  understand  how  you  call  it 
blame,  when  you  say  the  Lady  does  not  talk  so  well  as 
yourself.  She  may  talk  fitly  and  yet  need  not  be  repre- 
sented as  knowing  so  much  as  you — for  you  must  remember 
that  she  is  meant  to  be  only  a  young  girl. 

You  will  be  pleased  to  hear  that  Haehnel,^  that  fine 
German  sculptor  of  animals  you  have  heard  me  talk  of, 
has  received  a  good  number  of  orders  for  bronzes  and  is 
now  on  the  fair  road  to  be  appreciated,  and  will  be  able 

^  "  My  Beautiful  Lady." — The  Lines  referred  to  are  reproduced  in  fac- 
simile showing  Woolner"  s  handwriting. 

^  Woolner  made  the  acquaintance  of  Julius  Haehnel,  the  animal  sculptor, 
in  1849  before  he  went  to  AustraHa,  and  he  had  the  greatest  admiration 
for  his  works,  and  many  are  the  houses  possessing  bronzes  of  his  animals 
through  Woolner's  recommendation.  Amongst  the  finest  are  his  "  Asiatic 
Lion,"  "  Prowlmg  Lion,  Lioness,"  "  The  Ostrich,"  "  The  Tiger,  the  Ox 
and  the  Wild  Boar  "  (done  for  Sir  William  Gull,  the  well-known  physician), 
a  full  description  of  which  Woolner  wrote. 
R 


242  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

to  devote  all  his  time  to  the  making  of  more  of  his  extra- 
ordinary works. 

Hunt  has  at  last  finished  his  large  picture  of  the  Egyptian 
Girl,  lifesize  :  and  it  is  the  most  complete  thing  as  regards 
art  that  he  has  ever  done. 

I  expect  that  I  shall  have  to  run  over  to  Ireland  at 
Xmas  to  see  Archy  Peel  ^  for  a  few  days  to  study  some 
portraits  which  he  has  at  his  father-in-law's  place  of  his 
wife  for  the  monument  I  am  to  do  to  her  memory. 

I  am  much  pleased  with  the  subject,  and  hope  to  make  a 
pathetic  and  poetic  work  to  please  and  help  console  him. 

•  ••••• 

Most  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


Haehnel's  Wild  Boar 

When  we  are  able  to  give  our  whole  admiration  to  a 
work  of  Art,  we  feel  a  satisfaction  more  perfect  than  when 
gazing  on  a  beautiful  sunset ;  for  the  sun's  radiance  wanes 
sullied  with  our  regret  at  its  evanescence;  and  it  is  not 
every  sunset  has  the  good  fortune  to  be  seen  by  such  eyes 
as  saw  the  fighting  Temeraire  tugged  to  her  last  Berth ; — 
whereas  in  beholding  a  great  thought  embodied  our  satis- 
faction is  deepened  by  a  sense  of  its  permanence,  knowing 
that  familiarity  will  but  increase  our  joy  and  carry  it  on 
into  the  future.  This  pleasure  has  been  given  us  by  a 
German  Wild  Boar  just  completed  in  bronze  by  Julius 
Haehnel  of  Dresden  for  Sir  William  Gull. 

The  monster,  for  a  creature  of  form  so  strange  and  of 
such  prodigious  strength,  cannot  fitly  be  called  other 
than  a  monster,  stands  with  his  snout  raised,  eyes  glitter- 
ing, and  ears  pressed  sharply  forward  conscious  of  danger. 
But  no  sense  of  fear,  and  no  hesitation  mar  the  length  and 
decisiveness  of  those  mighty  lines  running  from  the  ponder- 


1  Mr.  Archibald  Peel,  son  of  General  Peel,  was  a  great  sportsman  and 
hard  rider  to  hounds,  a  dear  friend  of  the  Sculptor's.  They  were  "Tom  " 
and  "  Archie  "  to  each  other  always.  The  memorial  "  Heavenly  Welcome  " 
to  Mr.  Peel's  first  wife  is  one  of  if  not  the  most  beautiful  of  all  Woolner's 
monuments. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  243 

ous  jowl  and  throat  deep  into  the  chest  and  down  to  the 
neat  and  dapper  hoofs  in  front,  or  from  head  up  huge, 
bristhng  shoulders  down  to  the  eagerly  set  hind  limbs  and 
upraised  tufted  tail.  The  brute  looks  conscious  of  danger, 
but  still  more  conscious  of  power,  and  burning  to  know 
what  disturbs  him  that  he  may  straightway  settle  accounts 
and  return  peacefully  to  his  acorns.  Indeed,  he  looks  such 
"  A  full-acorned  Boar,  a  German  one,"  as  would  startlingly 
have  realized  his  idea  to  Shakespeare  when  in  these  words 
with  his  customary  aptness  he  marked  off  the  beast  :  but 
looking  at  the  hugeness  of  these  proportions  and  the 
enormous  strength  implied,  within  such  compactness  the 
whole  force  seems  light  and  simple,  we  rather  feel  as  if  some 
great  creation  of  Homer  had  taken  shape  and  was  there 
before  us  bristling  in  power  horrent  and  irresistible.  This 
is  the  impression  given  by  the  artist's  conception  of  his 
subject,  the  treatment  of  which  in  workmanship  belongs 
to  the  highest  rank,  being  a  happy  union  of  strength  and 
delicacy;  with  vastness  in  its  masses  daintily  varied,  line 
blending  into  line  by  the  suavity  obtained  only  by  con- 
summate skill.  The  surface  is  so  complex  from  indications 
of  ligament,  bone,  and  muscle  beneath,  and  from  innumer- 
able unexpected  starts  and  twistings  in  the  growth  of  hair 
and  bristles  without,  that  no  description  can  properly 
suggest  a  notion  of  its  "  Infinite  variety  "  ;  but  it  is  at  once 
a  gratification  and  a  privilege  to  record  such  an  original, 
complete,  and  noble  work  in  Sculpture. 

William  Allingham  to  T.  Woolner 

Lymington, 

February  21,  1864. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

It  has  long  been  a  load  on  my  conscience  not  to  have 
thanked  you  for  your  book.  I  know  not  if  it  came  from 
you  or  from  Macmillan,  but  in  either  case  it  was  very 
welcome,  arriving  just  in  time  to  be  carried  off  on  a  long 
walk  into  the  heart  of  the  forest  in  that  autumn  time  which 
is  now,  too,  part  of  "  other  years."  In  other  years,  and 
not  very  long  ago,  I  would  have  criticised  your  poem,  but 
now  I  act  not  thus  unless  asked  to  do  it  (&  not  always  then), 


244  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

&  so  you  escape  both  my  censures  and  applauses.  But  I 
could  honestly  praise  and  recollected  well,  on  re-reading, 
many  or  most  parts  which  had  been  in  the  Germ,  as  I  had 
often  done  in  the  meantime. 

As  Tennyson  is  in  London  I  daresay  you  are  seeing 
him  often.  I  was  at  Farringford  at  Christmas  time.  I 
hope  if  you  come  this  way  you  will  not  fail  to  give  me  a 
day  or  two,  or  rather  let  me  say  as  long  as  you  can  like, 
and  see  some  of  these  landscapes  and  trees.  I  can  give 
you  a  small  but  sufficient  bedroom,  my  perch  being  Mrs. 
Rice's,  Bath  Cottage,  which  is  about  a  half  a  mile  from 
Lymington,  on  the  seaward  or  Solentward  road,  for  'tis 
hardly  a  sea,  unless  you  are  on  it  in  an  open  boat  &  in  a 
stiff  gale  as  I  was  last  week.  I  hear  nothing  of  any  Lon- 
doners. Send  me  a  line  at  least  to  say  you  forgive  my 
non-acknowledging  remissness. 

Do  you  care  a  bit  about  Shakespeare  monuments  ?  I 
wish  they  would  ask  you  to  make  a  big,  bold  Statue,  place 
it  on  the  centre  of  new  Blackfriars  Bridge  (near  where 
stood  the  Globe  Theatre  on  the  right  and  the  Blackfriars 
Theatre  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Thames)  rising  boldly  above 
a  specially  designed  parapet,  &  call  the  said  bridge  Shake- 
speare Bridge  for  ever  &  a  day.  Nowhere  I  think  is  a 
statue  so  effective  as  on  a  bridge,  &  this  is  certainly  Shake- 
speare's part  of  London. 

Always  truly  yours, 

W.  Allingham. 

Please  say  has  Mrs.  Clough  come  in  to  live  in  town? 
Do  you  ever  see  Browning  ? 


Robert  Browning  to  T.  Woolner 

19,  Warwick  Crescent, 

Upper  Westbourne  Terrace, 

February  24,  1864. 

My  DEAR  Woolner — (I  won't  return  your  unkindness  and 
Mister  you) — I  feel  sorry  indeed  that  I  am  engaged  doubly, 
— that  is,  to  dine  and  then  go  elsewhere,  on  Friday  :  I  never 
see  enough  of  Tennyson,  nor  yet  to  talk  with  him  about 
subjects  we  cither  of  us  value  at  three  straws,  I  suppose  : 
but  I  always  enjoy  smelling  (even)  his  tobacco  smoke  : 
tell  him  so,  with  my  true  love.     Something  like  which,  you 


THE    CRUCIFIXION.        A    REREDOS 

From  the  plaster  model,  187G. 


[To  face  page  244. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  245 

must  please  to  take  too,  dear  Woolner,  for  all  your  kindness 
(except  as  excepted  against)  to 

Yours  ever 

Robert  Browning. 

Palgrave  the  Traveller  I  like  hugely. 

In  1864  the  figure  of  Moses,  for  the  Manchester  Assize 
Courts,  was  in  its  position,  but  fault  was  found  with  it  and 
criticisms  hurled  at  it.  A  Lancashire  man  felt  impelled 
to  write  the  following  letter — 

Moses  and  his  Critics 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Manchester  Guardian. 

Sir, — Our  Lancashire  habit  of  "  heaving  half  a  brick  " 

at  a  new-comer  has  led  us  to  fling  a  good  many  heavy 

witticisms  and  criticisms  at  an  illustrious  stranger  who 

has  lately  shown  himself  in  our  city.     I  allude  to  the  figure 

of  Moses  designed  by  Mr.  Woolner,  and  lately  placed  on 

the  great  gable  of  our  new  Assize  Courts.     This  is  what 

might  have  been  expected;    and  a  like  welcome  has,   I 

should  imagine,  been  given  to  every  public  statue  that  has 

been  put  up  in  England  for  many  a  long  day — it  is  our 

English  way  of  enjoying  anything  new.  .  .  . 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

A  Conservative. 
March  12,  1864. 

At  the  same  time  this  quatrain  was  printed  in  a  news- 
paper— 

The  Statue  of  "  Moses  "  at  the  New  Assize  Coubts 

The  architect,  upon  his  topmost  work. 
The  Hebrew  lawgiver  in  stone  imposes. 

Is  he  not  right  ?     A  place  for  trying  suits 
Is  certainly  the  very  place  for  Moses. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
Henry  X.  Gladstone  to  T.  Woolner 

Cliv€de7i, 

Maidenhead, 

April  2,  1864. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  must  write  you  a  line  to  thank  you  for  your 
beautiful  book — it  is  the  first  reallv  beautiful  book  I  have 
had  in  my  life.  I  also  thank  you  for  your  letter  explain- 
mg  about  the  book — I  received  them  both  with  great  joy 
this  morning  when  I  was  in  London  Papa,  Mama,  Mary, 
Herbert  and  I  are  come  here  to  stay  till  ^londay,  it  be- 
longs to  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  places  in  England,  the  river  Thames  runs  just 
at  the  bottom  of  the  garden.  There  are  such  lots  of  Dukes, 
Duchesses,  Earls,  Lords  and  Hon.  that  Herbert  and  I  do 
not  know  what  to  do  with  them. 
I  am 

Your  very  affectionate 

Henry  N.  Gladstone. 
Thomas  Woolner,  Esq. 

I  hope  to  come  to  your  house  some  day  to  see  the  bust 
you  spoke  of  but  I  am  afraid  it  cannot  be  these  holidays. 

Mrs.  Combe  to  T.  Woolner 

The  Clarendon  Press, 

April  14  [1864]. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  shall  be  greatly  obliged  b^^  3^our  ordering  two  sets  of 
the  photographs  from  the  Bust  framed  in  compartments, 
one  of  which  I  wish  sent  to  our  niece,  Miss  Xattali  .  .  .  the 
other  to  me.  The  Bust  ^  excites  the  most  unqualified  ad- 
miration from  all  who  have  seen  it,  both  as  a  likeness 
and  work  of  art.  .  .  . 

^  Marble  bust  of  Thomas  Combe  by  Woolner. 
246 


4 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  247 

Mv  husband  beers  his  friendly  resards,  and  with  the 
assurance  of  mine,  and  that  the  high  and  increasing  gratifi- 
cation I  derive  from  the  Bust,  will  ensure  you  a  high  place 
on  my  list  of  Benefactors, 

Believe  me, 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

M.  Combe. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

May  13,  1864. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

Sir  John  Simeon  called  to  see  me  a  few  days  back 
and  is  greatly  pleased  with  my  statue  of  his  friend  Godley. 
Artists  and  others  who  have  seen  it  say  that  I  have  solved 
the  difficulty  of  modern  costume  in  sculpture. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Thos:  Woolner. 


[The  following  letter  is  in  answer  to  a  request  by  Woolner 
to  Carlyle  to  sign  a  paper.] 

Thomas  Carlyle  to  Thomas  Woolner 

117,  Marina, 

St.  Leonard' s-on-Sea, 

May  31,  1864. 

Dear  Woolner, 

I  at  once  sign,  and  return : — I  would  even  walk  in 
suppliant  procession  to  the  Hon.  House  (if  necessary), 
bareheaded  and  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  entreating  said 
Hon.  Long-eared  Assembly  to  deliver  us  from  that  most 
absurd  of  all  Farce-Tragedies  daily  played  under  their 
super\'ision. 

We  are  all  doing  rather  well  here;  well,  considering. 
My  poor  Mrs.,  I  cannot  but  flatter  myself,  continues  slowly 
to  improve,  tho'  her  sufferings  are  still  very  great.  I 
myself  complain  most  of  my  intolerable  bankrupt  Printer, 
and  the  delays  he  occasions.  Without  work  done,  there  is 
no  real  triumph  to  be  had  over  one's  multifarious  confusions 
here  and  elsewhere. 

The  air,  the  sea,  the  green  land,  and  fine  old-fashioned 


248  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Country  Hamlets,  the  rides  by  shore  and  silent  lanes  white 
with  hawthorn  :  all  is  beautiful  here ; — on  one's  first  egress, 
such  a  sky  as  is  miraculous  to  London  eyes,  every  morning. 
To  work,  to  work  !    For  the  night  cometh  withal. 

Yours  ever, 

T.  Carlyle. 


On  the  first  of  June,  Woolner  became  engaged  to  Alice 
Gertrude,  daughter  of  George  and  Mary  Waugh.  She  was 
the  youngest  but  one  of  the  family  of  six  daughters  and 
two  sons.  Sweet,  gentle,  self-effacing,  although  lovely, 
devoid  of  personal  vanity  and  jealousy,  she  was  then  and 
always  absolutely  unworldly,  she  w^as  hardly  more  than  a 
girl  at  the  date  of  her  engagement,  but  her  future  husband 
at  that  age  had  realized  her  nature,  and  held  in  true  rever- 
ence her  "  lofty  young  soul,"  and  by  her  own  family  she 
was  idolized.  The  Sculptor  received  a  great  number  of 
letters  of  affectionate  congratulation  from  his  many  friends, 
showing  their  sympathetic  joy  in  his  happiness — it  is  only 
possible  to  print  a  few  of  them ;  almost  the  first  was  from 
Mrs.  Tennyson,  written  from  Farringford — from  Thomas 
Carlyle,  Edward  Lear  and  Mrs.  Froude.  Among  many  others 
were  notes  from  the  Hookers,  Trevelyans,  W.  Rossetti, 
Pollocks,  Ford  Madox  Brown — and  the  Combes  of  Oxford. 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

June  6,  1864. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

It  is  indeed  glorious  news  and  we  are  heartily  glad 
to  have  it.  May  all  your  fondest  hopes  be  more  than 
realised  !  I  cannot  but  think  she  must  be  worthy  of  your 
choice,  and  if  so,  they  can  scarcely  fail  of  fulfilling  them- 
selves. Where  truth  and  love  are,  the  elements  of  eternal 
youth  grow  ever  younger  in  its  strength ;  how  should  it  be 
otherwise?  Do  not  let  the  marriage  be  long  delayed. 
You  will  both  come  and  see  us  soon.  I  trust  you  have 
found  what  you  want  to  make  a  good  bust.  So  many  will 
be  grateful  to  you  for  it. 

A.  and  the  boys  are  gone  to-day  with  Mr.  Allingham, 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  *  249 

Edmund  Lushington  and  Mr.  Wilson  to  Beaulieu.     They 

have  a  lovely  day  for  the  old  sanctuary  of  many  memories. 

•  ••••• 

All  best  wishes, 

From  yours  most  sincerely, 

Emily  Tennyson. 


6,  Clifton  Place, 

June  7  [1864]. 
Mrs.  Froude  to  T.  Woolner 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

The  children  &  I  are  quite  delighted  to  hear  the 
great  news — Anthony  is  at  the  Record  Office  but  I  can't 
wait  till  he  returns  to  write — I  am  so  glad  you  followed 
my  sagacious  advice  for  indeed  it  is  great  happiness  &  I 
trust  you  will  have  it  to  the  fullest  extent. 

The  children  returned  from  their  walk  yesterday  report- 
ing that  they  had  seen  "  Mr.  Woolner  walking  with  a  tall 
young  lady — oh  !  so  pretty  &  we  think  he  must  '  be  beloved 
to  her '  (their  expression  for  such  matters) — for  we  passed 
him  quite  close  &  he  never  saw  us  !  " 

Your  note  explains  this  sad  neglect  of  your  former 
friends  &  I  am  delighted  to  think  that  the  surmises  of  the 
youthful  minds  were  so  correct.  We  shall  be  very  anxious 
to  see  Miss  Waugh  &  I  hope  we  shall  all  be  well  acquainted 
some  day — I  am  sure  you  would  choose  somebody  very 
charming. 

With  warm  congratulations  .  .  . 
Yours  very  sincerely, 

H.  E.  Froude. 

T.  Carlyle  to  Thomas  Woolner 

117,  Marina, 

St.  Leonard' s-on-Sea, 

June  11,  1864. 

Dear  Woolner, 

Your  Letter  from  The  Grange,  last  Sunday,  was 
naturally  very  interesting  to  us  !  My  poor  Wife  is  still 
too  weak  for  writing,  almost  ever  :  but  both  she  and  I, 
and  she  bids  me  say  so,  are  delighted  to  hear  of  your  get- 
ting an  eligible  young  Wife, — which  we  are  aware  is  the 
crown  and  keystone  of  all  comfortable  Housekeeping,  and 
expect  will  be  a  very  great  improvement  to  you,  in  that 
and  all  other  respects.     Solomon  said  long  ago,  "  He  that 


250  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

getteth  a  good  wife,  getteth  a  good  thing  " ;  and  I  never 
heard  anybody  contradict  him, — nor  will  I  myself,  by  a 
long  way  ! 

In  early  times  I  used  to  hear  a  great  deal  of  your  fair 
Bride's  Grandfather;  "  Dr.  Waugh,"  oracle  of  all  Scotch- 
men in  that  strange  London,  and  much  talked  of  at  home 
among  the  Dissenting  Religious  Circles; — an  excellent 
reasonable  solid  kind  of  man,  I  do  still  understand.  Whom 
if  a  certain  Young  Person  resemble,  it  will  be  well  with  her 
and  Another  !  Very  seriously  we  wish,  to  her  and  to  you, 
all  manner  of  prosperity,  and  a  fortunate  and  useful  life 
together. 

We  still  imagine  there  is  improvement  visible  here  from 
week  to  week, — at  least  I  do,  rather  more  and  not  less  con- 
fidently as  we  go  on ;  and  am  for  my  own  share  at  length 
got  thoroughly  busy  again ;  which  is  an  immense  point  in 
my  favour.  Everything  is  lovely  exceedingly  in  these 
green  environs,  in  this  bright  sea  and  sky ; — and,  till  July 
unkennel  London  on  it,  the  place  is  nearly  empty  of  foreign 
guests.  Except  indeed  a  few  Gipsies,  squatted  comfort- 
ably in  some  woody  bank,  on  one's  evening  ride. 
Yours  ever  truly  (tho'  in  haste), 

T.  Carlyle. 


Edward  Lear  to  Alice  Gertrude  Waugh 

15,  Stratford  Place, 

Oxford  Street,  W., 

June  24,  1864. 

Dear  Madam, 

Although  I  have  not  as  yet  the  pleasure  of  your 
acquaintance,  I  cannot  help  begging  you  to  do  me  the 
favour  of  accepting  a  small  drawing,^  which  my  friend 
Thomas  Woolner — ^who  I  gladly  hear  is  soon  to  call  you  his 
wife, — will  bring  you.  If  you  will  please  me  by  hanging 
up  this  little  offering  in  your  future  home,  you  will  often, 
I  would  hope,  be  reminded  that  among  the  many  who  will 
wish  you  &  Woolner  long  years  of  happiness  none  do  so 
more  sincerely  or  more  hopefully  than. 

Dear  Madam, 

Yours  very  truly, 

Edward  Lear. 

1  A  water-colour  drawing  of  Corfu. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  251 

Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  T.  Woolner 

11,  Carlton  House  Terrace,   S.W., 

June  25,  1864. 
Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Through  my  wife  I  understood  that  I  might  pay 
you  an  evening  visit  &  see  your  guest. ^  If  you  will  be  at 
home  this  evening  about  nine,  please  send  a  verbal  Yes  by 
the  bearer. 

Yours  most  truly, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  T.  Woolner 

11,  Carlton  House  Terrace,  S.W., 

June  28,  1864. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  am  sorry  to  report  that  I  find  the  House  of  Com- 
mons list,  the  only  one  over  which  I  have  any  power, 
hopelessly  crammed  for  the  days  over  which  the  coming 
debate  is  likely  to  extend.  On  Tennyson's  behalf  I  have 
appealed  to  the  Speaker  as  I  thought  you  would  wish  and 
he  will  treat  the  case  as  special  &  give  him  a  place  on 
Monday  next. 

He  should  be  there  before  half  past  four.  .  .  . 

Sincerely  yours, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

Thomas  Carlyle  to  Thomas  Woolner 

St.  Leonards, 

June  28,  1864. 
Dear  Woolner, 

You  were  right  as  to  Addiscombe;  next  morning 
we  heard  it  was  let.  Various  projects  were  canvassed, 
other  kind  possibilities  there  still  were,  but  all  had  their 
difficulties  :  the  end  was,  We  are  to  stay  here  till  July  is 
out;  by  which  time,  it  is  hoped,  a  slow  journey  toward 
Scotland  may  be  undertaken — my  Brother  superintending ; 
I  returning  then  to  Cheyne  Row,  and  waiting, — with  Work 
and  Silence  as  company.  This  is  what  suits  me  best; 
and  her  too,  I  really  think. 

There  has  been  a  little  more  of  sleep  (not  at  all  a  much) 
since  you  were  here;  and  aspects  are  slightly  brightening 
again.     For  this  is  the  "  Place  of  Hope  !  "     Your  amiable 

^  Alfred  Tennyson,  the  Laureate. 


HIS   LIFE   IX   LETTERS  253 

Please  give  my  kindest  love  to  the  boys.  Tell  the  Bard 
that  Gladstone  was  highly  pleased — he  was  pleased  with  the 
Danish  Speech.  **  It  is  indeed  something  to  have  pleased 
such  a  man'* — said  he. 

This  is  my  first  moment  since  receiving  yours. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Thos:  Woolxer. 

Jaates  Axthoxy  Froude  to  T.  Woolxer 

Salcombey 

August  30  [18<>4]. 
Mt  dear  Woolx-er, 

.  .  .  When  is  the  execution  ?  I  have  been  urcrinor 
on  the  children  the  propriety  of  their  writing  to  you  on 
the  subject.  They  loudly  and  angrily  refuse,  but  in  the 
tone  of  their  refusal  show  how  much  they  are  interested 
nevertheless.     A  word  from  you  will  be  very  welcome. 

"  Aylmer"s  Field  "  is  the  grandest  thing  I  have  read  of 
Tennyson's — and  ''Tithonus*'  too — how  beautiful  it  is. 

Affect ^5"  yours, 

J.  A.  Froude. 

Children  were  very  fond  of  Woolner,  and  many  of  his 
friends'  children  were  highly  excited  at  his  approaching 
marriage.  One  Uttle  girl,  on  first  hearing  of  his  engage- 
ment, clasped  her  hands  together,  sapng  she  wished  she 
could  be  one  of  Mr.  Woolner  s  ''  brides  "  ! 

Woolner  was  married  on  September  6,  at  Saint  James's 
Church,  Paddington,  and  the  honepnoon  was  spent  in 
Guernsey  at  L'Ancrasse;  while  there  they  saw  much  of 
Paul  Naftel,  the  water-colour  painter,  and  his  wife. 

They  returned  to  England  about  the  middle  of  October, 
staying  on  the  way  at  Dartmouth,  Exeter  and  Salisbury. 
They  then  settled  down  at  29,  Welbeck  Street,  wluch 
remained  their  home  all  their  lives. 

The  portrait  by  Arthur  Hughes  of  the  young  wife,  painted 
verv  shortlv  after  her  marriage  shows  her  verv  much  as 
she  was  at  the  date  of  her  engagement ;  and  although 
altogether  it  is  the  best  portrait  of  her  and  is  very  charm- 
ing, neither  it  nor  any  other  has  ever  quite  done  her  justice. 

The  picture  was  bought  with  a  wedding  cheque  given 
by  F.  T.  Palgrave  to  his  friend  Woolner. 


254  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

In  answer  to  a  letter  from  Woolner  asking  Arthur  Hughes 
to  paint  the  portrait,  he  wrote  :  "  About  the  picture  of 
course  I  shall  be  delighted  to  do  what  you  want  done, 
am  ever  so  much  flattered  to  have  been  selected." 


Mrs.  Carlyle  to  T.  Woolner 

5,  CJieyne  Row,  Chelsea, 

Saturday  [October  1864]. 

Dear  Friend, 

When  your  note  was  delivered  here  to-day,  I  was 
on  my  way  to  call  for  "  the  young  Wife,"  who  is  and  will 
ever  remain  associated  in  my  mind  with  the  loveliest  roses  ! 
The  roses  were  all  I  could  see  of  her  at  St.  Leonards  !  I 
have  since  seen  her  graceful  and  gracious  figure  on  paper; 
and  shall  now  see  her  face  to  face,  and  if  she  make  you  as 
happy  as  I  want  you  to  be,  I  shall  love  her  with  all  my 
heart.  Yes,  thank  God,  I  am  much  better  than  when  I 
left  St.  Leonards ;  but  I  had  best  not  "  crow  till  I  am 
out  of  the  wood."  I  am  still  but  catching  a  glimpse  of 
open  country  between  the  trees  !  I  am  not  "  well  "  and 
not  strong,  am  not  confident,  only  less  suffering  for  the 
time  being  and  with  a  feeling  of  Hoye  struggling  slowly 
and  doubtfully  to  Life  in  me,  like  a  poor  wretch  fished 
out  of  the  Depths  by  the  Humane  Society's  drags,  and  this 
is  why  that  having  driven  to-day  as  far  as  Harley  Street  to 
call  for  your  Wife;  I  suddenly  took  fright  and  returned 
home  re  infecta.  My  back  is  so  weak  and  stiff  from  this 
terrible  long  illness  that  I  can  hardly  stand  upright,  and 
can  walk  only  a  few  yards  with  painful  difficulty;  getting 
in  and  out  of  a  carriage  is  more  trying  to  me  than  scram- 
bling over  a  wall  six  feet  high  used  to  be,  in  the  blessed  time 
when  I  had  "  no  nerves,''  or  didn't  know  that  I  had  any  ! 
Now,  if  there  had  been  no  young  wife  in  the  case  I  could 
have  driven  up  to  your  door  and  called  you  out  to  transact 
our  interview  in  the  carriage.  But  the  nearer  I  got,  the 
more  I  felt  it  too  great  a  liberty,  to  propose  to  a  young  wife, 
a  stranger  to  me,  that  she  should  come  out  and  sit  in  my 
"  neat  Fly  !  "  And  to  stagger  in,  after  my  present  fashion 
of  walking,  to  the  young  wife  and  stranger  was  a  disregard  to 
appearances  which  I  could  not,  at  the  last  supreme  moment, 
attain  to  !  So,  I  just  turned  back;  more  shame  to  me  ! 
If  you  will  come  and  bring  Her  here,  I  shall  be  greatly 
obliged  to  you.     I  drive  out  every  day  at  one  o'clock  and 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  255 

come  in  at  three — either  before  or  after  these  two  hours 
I  am  visible  till  nine  at  night,  when  I  go  to  my  room.  I 
dine  at  four  in  the  Drawing-room,  and  have  got  it  so  fixed 
in  my  head  that  eating,  instead  of  being  a  vulgar  trans- 
action for  ME  is  a  benefit  conferred  on  my  Husband  and 
Friends ;  that  I  no  longer  feel  ashamed  to  eat  before  wit- 
nesses ;  so  you  can  choose  your  hour  with  the  exception  of 
just  the  two  I  have  named. 

God  bless  you. 

Affectionately  yours, 

Jane  Carlyle. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

November  3,  1864. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

When  I  wrote  a  short  time  back  I  forgot  to  ask  you 
to  tell  the  Bard  that  he  can  have  his  attic  as  usual  when- 
ever he  comes  to  town  and  likes  to  have  it ;  the  only  differ- 
ence he  will  find  in  my  present  arrangements  will  be  a  double 
welcome,  and  a  more  careful  eye  to  watch  over  his  com- 
forts. If  he  comes  in  the  winter  he  must  have  his  attic 
to  sleep  and  smoke  in. 

I  do  not  find  that  my  experience  agrees  with  the  Bard's 
opinion  of  his  "  Aylmer's  Field  "  ;  for  he  thought  it  was 
and  would  be  regarded  as  the  least  effective  of  the  new 
poems,  whereas  I  hear  good  judges  say  quite  the  contrary. 
Froude  by  no  means  a  light  authority,  told  me  the  other 
day  he  thought  it  the  "  finest  piece  of  writing  that  Tenny- 
son had  ever  done."  Anyway  the  Bard's  own  forebodings 
as  to  the  non-success  of  the  book  must  be  dispelled  by  this 
time,  for  as  regards  sale  and  popular  opinion  and  praises, 
it  must  have  surpassed  everything  he  has  ever  done.  I 
only  hope  it  will  inspire  him  to  write  heaps  more  poems; 
for  now  he  has  only  to  think  out  a  good  subject  and  write 
it  straight  off;  as  his  command  over  language  is  quite 
absolute  now,  and  the  verses  must  fashion  themselves  so 
perfectly  in  his  mind  at  once  as  scarcely  to  require  correc- 
tion. I  wish  he  would  write  a  set  of  songs  in  lyrical  metres, 
for  since  Burns  he  is  almost  the  only  poet  who  has  been 
able  to  do  a  song. 

I  have  seen  Mrs.  Carlyle  since  I  wrote  and  was  charmed 


256  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

to  find  how  well  she  was  looking  :  she  is  too  weak  to  do 
much  more  than  stand  upright ;  but  her  spirits  are  good, 
and  her  state  may  almost  be  called  a  resurrection  from  the 
dep.d. 

•  ••••• 

I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  Hunt  has  made  up  his  mind 
he  says  to  go  to  the  East  for  2  or  3  years,  and  means  to  start 
in  about  2  months.  It  seems  a  pity  he  should  go  to  stay 
so  long  in  that  dangerous  climate,  but  he  has  got  the  notion 
of  painting  religious  pictures  and  it  is  of  no  use  trying  to 
dissuade  him. 

Palgrave  went  off  this  morning  to  Yorkshire  with  his 
wife  to  stay  some  time.  I  went  with  him  to  see  the  new 
statues  from  Rome  at  the  B.  Museum  and  found  they  were 
poor  rubbish  mostly,  and  of  no  value,  save  to  show  what 
muffs  there  were  among  the  ancients  as  well  as  in  our  own 
time,  but  the  newspapers  have  a  different  opinion  upon 
what  they  do  not  understand. 

Most  trulv  vours, 

T.  WoOLNER. 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

Freshwater, 

Isle  of  Wight, 

November  4,  1864. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Mr.  Wilson  arrived  yesterday  and  he  has  kindly 
taken  the  boys  for  me  this  morning,  so  I  will  not  let  it  pass 
without  a  few  lines  of  thanks  for  your  welcome  letter, 
and  of  affectionate  congratulation  from  us  on  your  mar- 
riage, which  all  who  have  the  pleasure  of  knowing  your 
bride  think  so  very  happy.  May  it  indeed  be  so  ever 
more  and  more.  We  looked  for  you  both  at  the  appointed 
time,  and  now  we  will  look  for  you  whenever  you  bid  us 
do  so,  and  let  it  not  be  long. 

•  ••••• 

Thanks  for  what  you  say  about  the  new  poem,^  but  for 
you  it  would  not  have  been.  Do  you  like  the  idea  of  the 
Selection  in  sixpenny  parts  for  the  working  man  ?  And  I 
wonder  whether  you  would  approve  of  my  notion  of  having 
headings  and  tail  pieces,  if  had  at  all,  made  out  of  flowers, 

1  "  Aylmer's  Field." 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  257 

emblematic  of  the  Colonies  by  way  of  telling  the  world  that 
one  considers  that  the  Colonists  too  are  among  the  people 
of  England.  Each  Colony  I  think  ought  to  have  its  flower 
or  tree  emblem  but  as  far  as  I  can  make  it  has  not,  so  all 
that  could  be  done  would  be  to  have  kinds  of  typical  plants — 
cotton,  coffee,  eucalyptus,  acacia,  rice,  maize,  vine,  wheat, 
etc.,  bread  fruit  tree,  fern  tree,  palm  and  pine. 

We  hope  that  in  consideration  of  our  being  so  far  away 
from  town,  you  have  chosen  a  tankard  or  gold  bracelets 
or  whatever  you  will  by  way  of  memorial  of  our  good 
wishes. 

With  love  and  best  ^vishes  from  Alfred  and  the  boys  to 
yourself  and  all  kind  greetings  from  us  all  to  your  Alice. 

Believe  me. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  Tf., 

November  17,  1864. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

The  Bard's  room  is  all  prepared  and  he  can    enter 
at  will. 

A  thousand  thanks  ! — the  cheque  came  safely  to  hand. 
I  had  been  looking  out  but  was  not  satisfied  with  what  I 
saw,  but  now  I  have  got  a  glorious  silver  mug,  90  years  old 
and  there  will  be  engraved  upon  it  "  Given  by  Alfred  and 
Emily  Tennyson  to  Thomas  Woolner  Sep  :  6,  1864  " — my 
wedchng  day.     I  shall  look  quite  splendid. 

I  will  tell  the  Bard  what  I  think  of  your  projects  of 
woodcuts  for  the  Qd.  Numbers. 

Alice  has  returned  to  me  again,  having  been  absent  a  week 
with  her  mother. 

She  is  very  pleased  at  the  notion  of  having  to  look  after 
the  Bard  and  make  him  snug. 

•  ••••• 

Most  truly  yours, 

Thos  :  Woolner. 


258  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  Mrs.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

Freshwater, 

Isle  of  Wight, 

February  11,  1865. 
My  dear  Mrs  Woolner, 

We  shall  be  delighted  to  welcome  Mr.  Woolner  and 
for  as  long  a  time  as  he  can  stay,  yourself  also  if  you  change 
your  mind. 

•  ••••• 

Lionel  was  the  other  day  singing  the  sweetness  of  the 
days  that  were  past,  when  the  sculptor  with  hair  like  a  torch 
was  here,  in  Latin  verse — so  Mr.  Woolner  will  perceive  he 
is  of  a  constant  mind.  Hoping  that  we  may  send  him  back 
quite  well, 

Believe  me. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

St.  Mary's, 

March  24,  1865. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  returned  last  night  from  Seaton,  having  spent  a 
most  pleasant  time.  Lady  Ashburton  was  kindness  itself 
and  there  was  no  state  or  grandeur.  Carlyle  was  charming, 
and  his  talk  was  interesting  in  every  way;  he.  Sir  W. 
Trevelyan  and  I  used  to  go  out  riding  together  nearly  every 
day.  Last  Tuesday  the  whole  party  made  an  expedition 
to  the  house  I  told  you  of  (St.  Mary's),  and  had  luncheon 
in  the  open  air,  on  the  step  of  the  terrace  on  which  the  house 
stands. 

Carlyle  has  given  up  the  notion  of  buying  it,  but  says  that 
if  he  were  ten  years  younger  and  able  to  enter  a  new  kind 
of  life  he  should  not  wish  a  happier  looking  spot .  The  house 
is  built  of  solid  stone ;  the  rooms  are  wainscoted  all  round, 
the  ceilings  also  are  of  pine  polished ;  and  most  beautifully 
finished  throughout.  There  are  100  acres  of  land  with  a 
cottage  for  farm  man  &c.,  and  the  price  asked  is  £2000. 

Lady  Ashburton  was  anxious  I  should  buy  it  and  offered 
to  lend  me  as  much  of  the  money  as  I  liked,  but  of  course  a 
big  house  to  me  would  be  like  buying  a  pack  of  hounds. 

I  went  on  Wednesday  to  see  Clevelands,  a  place  near  there. 


SIR    COWASJEE    JEHANGHIR    READYMONEY.       MARBLE    STATUE, 
BOMBAY,    1876 


[To  face  page  259, 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  259 

and  it  was  without  exception  to  my  mind,  the  loveUest 
place  I  have  ever  seen  even  as  it  stands  now ;  so  that  what 
it  must  be  in  the  time  of  the  leaf  surpasses  my  imagination 
to  perceive. 

•  ••••• 

I  think  there  is  no  chance  of  Carlyle  coming  to  I.  of  Wight, 
for  he  said  that  as  soon  as  the  Seaforth  Lodge  engagement 
was  over  he  was  due  in  Scotland  to  stay  with  some  of  his 
family  for  a  long  time,  and  he  does  not  expect  to  be  back 
before  the  end  of  autumn  or  something  like  that,  so  that  I 
shall  be  all  that  time  without  seeing  the  dear  old  philosopher. 

•  ••••• 

Most  truly  yours, 

ThOS  :    WOOLNER. 

Robert  Browning  to  T.  Woolner 

19,  Warwick  Crescent, 

Upper  Westbourne  Terrace,  W., 

May  25,  1865. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

Will  you  tell  Mr.  Jowett  that  I  am  most  grateful 
for  his  goodness,  and  accept  it  with  the  utmost  pleasure  ! 
As  for  you  we  are  old  friends  now,  and  your  own  goodness 
is  much  as  usual. 

I  write  at  once — but  will  call  on  you  before  the  time,  to 
arrange  how  we  meet  &  go  together  :  how  pleasant  it  will 
be  ! — at  least  to 

Yours  ever  truly 

Robert  Browning. 

Of  course  I  am  very  thankful  to  Mrs.  Pattison  also — as 
you  must  kindly  assure  her — but  indeed  one's  breath  is 
taken  away  by  you  &  your  friends. 


CHAPTER  XV 

WooLNER  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  his  workmen,  model- 
lers and  carvers  for  an  outing  in  the  country  every  summer. 
He  is  seen  whilst  on  one  of  these  friendly  expeditions  in 
the  group,  on  the  left  of  the  white  haired  old  man  in  the 
centre,  Jimmy  Holland  by  name ;  he  was  an  old  Sailor 
who  did  odd  jobs  in  the  studio  such  as  beating  up  the  clay — 
damping  the  cloths  to  keep  the  clay  models  moist,  fetching 
and  carrying  tools  and  stoking  the  furnace .  This  old  fellow, 
Jimmy,  was  proud  of  telling  how,  when  Nelson  left  England 
for  the  last  time,  he  laid  his  hand  on  Jimmy,  then  a  boy, 
to  steady  himself  getting  into  the  boat  which  was  to  take 
him  to  his  flag-ship.  Another  experience  of  his,  was  when 
on  board  the  ship  which  took  Napoleon  to  St.  Helena.  One 
day  as  the  Exile  paced  the  deck,  he  stopped  and  accosted 
Jimmy,  (  he  often  spoke  to  the  sailors  when  in  the  humour,) 
and  asked  :  "  How  long  since  you  saw  your  Mudder  and 
Farder  ?  "  and  Jimmy  answered  :  "  I  should  'a'  seen  'em 
a  long  time  ago  if  it  hadn't  'a'  been  for  you  / .'  "  pointing  his 
forefinger  impressively  at  the  Emperor,  who  with  hands 
behind  his  back,  walked  off  laughing  softly  to  himself. 

Another  worker  in  the  studio  who  came  on  and  off  for 
many  years  was  W.  F.  Woodington,  son  of  Woodington  the 
sculptor,  and  the  following  little  anecdote  about  him  is 
recorded  in  Woolner's  words. 

"  One  day  in  1838,  Woodington,  the  sculptor  of  one  of 
the  reliefs  on  the  base  of  the  Nelson  column,  was  on  a  steam 
boat  returning  from  a  trip  to  Margate ;  and  in  the  midst  of  a 
great  blazing  sunset  he  saw  the  old  Temeraire  drawn  along 
by  a  steam  tug.  The  sight  was  so  magnificent  that  it 
struck  him  as  being  an  unusually  fine  subject  for  a  picture, 
and  he  noted  all  the  points  he  thought  would  constitute 
its  glory  if  presented  on  canvas.     But  he  was  not  the  only 

260 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  261 

person  on  board  who  took  professional  notice  of  the  splendid 
sight,  for  he  saw  Turner  himself  there,  also  noticing  and 
busy  making  little  sketches  on  cards .  He  pointed  him  out  to 
his  companion  as  Turner  the  great  Landscape  Painter. 
When  Woodington  went  home  he  made  a  sketch  of  the 
subject  while  all  the  incidents  were  fresh  in  his  memory,  in- 
tending at  some  future  favorable  opportunity  to  paint  a 
picture ;  the  intention  ultimately  proving  to  be  one  of  those 
instances  of  goodness  that  pave  the  way  to  another  but  not 
a  better  world  ! — On  the  year  following,  going  to  the  R.A. 
Ex  :  what  was  his  amazement  on  beholding  the  veritable 
scene  that  had  so  delighted  him  again  blazing  before  him 
in  all  its  glory  !  He  now  saw  that  Turner  had  not  been  busy 
making  those  little  sketches  on  cards  for  nothing ;  for  here 
was  a  result  beyond  anything  of  the  kind  ever  seen  in  paint 
before.  I  scarcely  need  say  that  Woodington  felt  no  inclin- 
ation to  begin  painting  his  intended  picture  of  the  Old 
Temeraire.^^ 

t.  woolner. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T,  Woolner 

Farringford, 

July  24,  1865. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Many  thanks  for  your  kind  letter  and  our  best  wishes 
for  the  beautiful  Fanny  ^  and  Mr.  Hunt.  I  trust  that  the 
marriage  will  not  only  make  them  happy  but  add,  if 
possible,  to  your  own  happiness  and  Mrs.  Woolner's.  Do 
you  know  we  went  round  by  St.  Mary's  ?  We  had  to  hurry 
back  to  see  Professor  Owen  so  there  was  no  possibility  of 
trying  to  find  Lady  Ashburton. 

Our  boys  are  with  us  and  well .  Great  is  the  joy  of  having 
them  as  you  will  know.  They  are  very  brown  and  a  good 
deal  altered  considering  the  short  time.  But  they  keep 
their  old  simplicity  though  somewhat  of  the  old  grace  is 
gone,  only  for  a  time  I  hope. 

With  our  love. 

Ever  most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 
1  Eldest  sister  of  ]\Irs.  Woolner  and  the  first  IVIrs.  Holman-Hunt. 


262  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

July  27,  1865. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

.  .  .  The  Emperor  ^  has  accepted  my  bust  of  Cobden,^ 
and  the  correspondence  on  the  subject  is  soon  I  beUeve  to 
be  pubhshed  in  the  papers.  I  have  nearly  finished  the 
model  of  Peel's  Monument ;  and  Wat  kiss  Lloyd,  who  saw 
it,  says  I  shall  have  nothing  to  do  but  babies  and  Angels 
for  years  after  this  is  exhibited.  The  Angels  I  should  like 
very  well,  but  as  for  the  babies  I  profess  no  especial  admira- 
tion for  the  pretty  squalling  little  creatures.  .  .  . 

Lady  and  Sir  Walter  Trevelyan  were  here  yesterday,  .  .  . 
she  was  in  such  a  state  of  delight  with  my  bust  of  Carlyle 
that  I  really  hoped  it  would  take  the  form  of  ordering  a 
copy  in  bronze  !  .  .  .  . 

Most  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

T.  Woolner  to  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone 

Clifton  Hill  House, 
Clifton,  Bristol, 

August  9,  1865. 

Dear  Mr.  Gladstone, 

I  met  the  member  for  Chester  a  short  time  ago  and 
he  told  me  that  you  were  going  to  be  some  time  at  Ha  war- 
den Castle.  I  therefore  gave  directions  for  one  of  the  medal- 
lions of  Tennyson  to  be  sent  down  to  you  and  I  hope  you 
will  do  it  the  honour  of  letting  it  be  hung  up  in  the  Temple 
of  Peace  :  the  original  himself  was  very  pleased  that  you 
liked  it  for  both  he  and  Mrs.  Tennj^son  say  they  like  it 
better  than  any  other  likeness  that  has  been  done  of  him. 

I  am  at  this  place  doing  a  bust  of  Dr.  Symonds,  who  has 
an  excellent  face  for  sculpture.  I  forgot  to  mention  to 
you  when  you  were  at  my  studio,  that  my  statue  of  Godley 
was  finished  in  bronze  and  exhibiting  in  the  Italian  Court 
at  S.  Kensington,  it  may  probably  be  there  2  or  3  months 
longer,  and  should  you  chance  to  go  there  any  time  you 
may  be  in  town  I  should  much  like  you  to  see  it  before  it 

^  The  Emperor  of  the  French,  Louis  Napoleon :  Napoleon  III. 

^  Woolner  carved  four  busts  of  Richard  Cobden  :  one  for  Mrs.  Cobden ; 
one  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery,  London ;  one  in  Westminster  Abbey ; 
and  the  one  above  mentioned.  There  are  many  letters  from  Mrs.  Cobden 
about  the  bust  expressing  her  enthusiastic  admiration  of  it. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  263 

goes  to  N.  Zealand.     Please  give  my  kind   remembrances 
to  Mrs.  Gladstone  and  your  family. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

ThOS  :    WOOLNER. 

Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  T.  Woolner 

Uawarden, 

August  11,  1865. 
Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Your  kind  &  most  acceptable  present  ^  has  arrived 
in  safety  and  the  work  is  much  &  unanimously  admired. 
It  is  most  pleasant  to  have  it  in  view  and  though  my  room 
(which  has  been  shifted)  is  more  than  ever  full  of  books, 
I  shall  make  this  a  sine  qua  non.     Believe  me. 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

Will  you  remember  me  kindly  to  Dr.  Symonds,  my  slight 
acquaintance  with  whom  I  am  ever  anxious  to  improve  ? 

T.  Woolner  to  F.  T.  Palgrave 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

August  21,  1865. 

Dear  Frank, 

...  I  was  quietly  getting  my  breakfast  at  Clifton 
about  8  when  the  telegraphic  message  came  summoning  me. 
.  .  .  Had  it  been  two  days  later  the  bust  of  Dr.  Symonds 
would  have  been  completed  and  now  I  must  go  tomorrow 
or  next  day  to  finish  him  off.  The  Doctor  says  he  thinks 
it  a  great  success,  and  remarked  just  what  Gladstone  did — 
that  seeing  me  model  gave  him  a  totally  new  idea  of  art ; 
he  seemed  to  have  no  notion  that  in  serious  art  every  touch 
had  to  be  treated  with  the  same  care  as  the  pointing  a  rifle 
at  long  range.  ...  I  went  one  day  to  Wells  and  was  hugely 
pleased  with  the  elegance  of  the  chapter-house  which  looks 
like  a  gigantic  mushroom  of  fairy  lightness.  The  famed 
sculptures  I  thought  about  as  bad  and  no  better  than  nearly 
all  the  Gothic  sculpture  I  ever  saw,  poor  and  ugly  in 
composition,  grotesque  in  meaning  and  of  almost  blank 
ignorance  as  to  human  form.  .  .  . 

Yours  affectionately, 

Thos  :  Woolner. 

^  The  medallion  of  Tennyson  framed. 


264  THOMAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 

Letter  from  Mrs.  Carlyle  to  T.  Woolner 

4,  Langhorne  Gardens, 
Folkestone, 
Wednesday  [August,  I860]. 

How  nice  !  I  have  no  doubt  it  is  lovely  !  Such  a 
Mother  !  And  such  a  Father  !  Pray  give  it  a  kiss  for  me, 
a  whole  shower  of  kisses.  I  hope  to  see  it  with  my  bodily 
eyes  before  long.  I  return  to  Chelsea  on  Monday  next  till 
then  I  am  here  with  Miss  Bromley  and  the  Pugs. 

Mr.  Carlyle  too  is  longing  for  home.  Can  know  no  rest 
till  he  gets  there  !  Poor  despised  Chelsea  has  risen  in  value 
of  late — I  should  not  wonder,  so  great  is  his  impatience 
to  get  back  to  London  (!!!)  that  he  will  start  off  without 
awaiting  my  return,  and  plump  down  on  those  terrified 
servants  all  by  himself  !  this  week  !  My  arm  continues 
free  of  pain,  and  I  can  use  my  hand  to  a  certain  small  extent, 
for  example  I  write  this  note  with  the  lame  hand  !  and  since 
I  have  been  here  I  have  knitted  a  pair  of  what  shall  I  say  ? 
Garters  !     Upon  my  honour. 

Dear  love  to  the  pretty  wee  Wife, 

Affectionately  yours, 

Jane  Carlyle. 

T.  Woolner  to  F.  T.  Palgrave 

September  2,  1865. 

Dear  Frank, 

...  I  began  the  medallion  of  Emily  Rhodes,  to 
my  grief  that  it  should  be  such  an  insignificant  thing  when 
she  w^ould  have  made  so  admirable  a  bust.  .  .  .  Arthur 
Hughes  has  sent  home  the  picture  of  Alice,  and  I  think  it 
looks  lovely  only  that  the  red  of  the  shawl  attracts  from 
the  countenance.  £100  is  his  charge  for  a  portrait  in  that 
style  finished  up  like  it,  tho'  he  made  a  difference  to  me 
being  an  artist.  Instead  therefore  of  considering  the  money 
spent  on  doing  up  the  house  &c.,  which  you  gave  me  a 
wedding  present  for  that  purpose  I  am  going  to  consider, 
this  picture  as  your  present  :  my  wife  has  always  been 
saying  she  wanted  me  to  get  something  beautiful  that  your 
name  might  [be]  associated  with,  and  now  I  do  not  think  I 
can  do  better.  .  .  . 

Most  sincerely  thine, 

Thos  :    Woolner. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  265 

T.  WooLNER  TO  F.  T.  Palgrave 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  Pf., 

September  11,  1865. 

My  dear  Frank, 

I  finished  the  model  of  the  lovely  Emily  Rhodes  to- 
day and  it  gives  vivid  satisfaction  to  all  concerned  ...  it 
does  not  look  in  the  least  like  a  portrait  but  like  some  Greek 
poetic  face.  In  about  2  days  I  shall  have  finished  the  model 
of  Alfred  for  Manchester,  then  I  hope  to  be  off  to  Scotland 
for  a  fortnight. 

I  have  finished  Giffy's  ^  book  and  have  for  the  last  fort- 
night scarcely  thought  of  any  thing  else,  I  found  it  so 
absorbing;  the  description  of  the  shipwreck  is  worthy  of 
being  part  of  an  epic  poem  &  you  move  about  among  the 
cities,  their  suburbs,  and  their  inhabitants  as  if  you  were 
really  a  traveller  among  them.  ...  I  went  to  see  Carlyle 
this  evening  and  found  him  vigorously  reading  at  Racine 
who  seems  just  now  to  give  him  especial  admiration. 

Affly  yours, 

Thos  :     WoOLNER. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

October  3,  1865. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  have  just  returned  to  Babylon  and  its  horrid 
roaring,  having  been  touring  in  the  Highlands  and  other 
places  for  17  days. 

When  I  was  at  Leek  Miss  Gaunt,  a  lady  who  lives  there 
and  who  met  the  Bard  a  year  or  two  ago  at  Buxton  I  think, 
told  me  a  story  that  happened  among  her  acquaintance, 
so  like  "  Enoch  Arden  "  that  I  thought  it  worth  while  to 
let  you  know. — Two  fellows  made  love  to  the  same  lady, 
one  was  a  poor  sailor,  the  other  a  rich  banker  man  : — ^the 
lady  (strange  to  tell)  actually  married  the  sailor.  The  sailor 
was  a  gentleman  sailor  only  a  poor  one.  After  living  with 
her  and  having  three  or  four  children  born  he  had  to  go  to 
sea,  and  his  ship  was  lost.  For  many  years  nothing  was 
heard  of  the  sailor,  and  in  the  meantime  the  rich  banker 
turned  up,  and  did  great  things  for  lady  and  children  on 
the  grounds  of  old  friendship,  and  ultimately  persuaded  her 
to  marry  him.     They  lived  together  happily  and  had  several 

^  Gifford  Palgrave,  the  traveller. 


266  THOMAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 

children.  One  day  home  came  the  sailor  without  a  penny, 
and  chanced  to  go  to  his  own  friends  before  looking  for  his 
wife  and  heard  the  whole  story.  As  you  may  suppose  he 
felt  the  reverse  of  merry  on  the  occasion;  but  after  con- 
sulting a  great  deal  at  length  determined  not  to  reveal 
himself  to  her,  and,  went  away  and  has  never  been  heard  of 
since.  His  friends  all  suppose  him  dead,  and  have  in  conse- 
quence told  the  circumstance.  The  happy  ones  are  alive 
now,  living  in  luxury  in  some  Midland  town.  Miss  Gaunt 
told  me  their  names,  but  charged  me  not  to  repeat  them, 
and  the  name  of  the  town  which  I  have  forgotten. 

•  ••••• 

I  saw  Palgrave  this  morning  for  a  few  minutes  and  he 
looked  like  a  squire,  so  rosy  and  brown  and  robust  with  his 
six  weeks'  holiday  in  lovely  Wales.  How  curious  it  seems 
that  the  loveliest  countries  have  the  most  hideous  barbarous 
natives.  I  have  been  about  parts  of  Scotland  fit  for  the 
abodes  of  archangels,  but  the  life  there  huddling  within  the 
ugly  hovels  seems  scarcely  human  from  its  set  hardness 
and  brutish  coarseness. 

I  suppose  you  heard  of  the  death  of  Miss  Bonham-Carter. 
There  never  was  a  finer  creature  in  intelligence  and  active 
goodness. 

With  love  to  the  Bard, 

Most  truly  yours, 

Thos  :   WoOLNER. 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

October  5,  1865. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  wish  some  good  soul  would  make  you  so  rich  that 
you  need  not  live  in  roaring  smoky  London. 

The  other  day  we  had  yet  another  story  of  (not  told  us) 
like  "  Enoch  Arden."  It  makes  one  fear  the  women  do  not 
wait  so  long  as  they  should.  I  like  better  that  old 
German  story,  where  the  faithful  Baroness  is  dispensing  of 
her  goods  to  the  poor  and  one  bold  beggar  embracing  her 
is  about  to  be  knocked  down  by  an  attendant,  when  the 
beggar  says,  "  My  friend  there  is  no  need  for  that,  behold 
vour  Master  !  " 


[Photograph  by  Lock  and  Whitfield. 
THOMAS    WOOLNER,    R.A.,     1877 


ITo  face  page  260, 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  267 

Mr.  Jenner  is  quite  princely  in  his  generosity.  I  hope  you 
will  say  that  we  feel  him  so. 

•  ••••• 

With  kindest  regards, 
Believe  me, 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

October  9,  1865. 
My  dear  Mrs  Tennyson, 

.  .  .  The  Palgraves  called  yesterday  to  see  the  babe. 
He  (Palgrave)  was  flourishing  with  life  and  vigour  as  usual. 
.  .  .  Frank  is  very  busy  preparing  his  Art  Essays  for  the  Press 
to  come  out  by  Xmas.  I  hear  from  Arthur  Hughes  who 
told  me  he  had  been  working  hard  at  "  Enoch  Arden  "  and 
that  Payne  pressed  him  sharply  as  to  time,  but  I  advised 
him  not  to  be  pressed  on  any  account  so  as  to  run  any  risk 
of  doing  the  designs  hastily,  for  art  is  a  thing  that  will  not 
admit  of  hasty  and  sudden  freaks  from  publishers,  however 
enterprising.  .  .  . 

With  all  kind  remembrances. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Thos  :     WoOLNER. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

FarriTigford, 

Freshwater, 

Isle  of  Wight, 

November  8,  1865. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  do  not  doubt  that  Mr.  Patmore  will  make  a  good  use 
of  his  riches.  He  was  very  generous  as  a  poor  man  and 
I  do  not  think  he  will  be  less  so  as  a  rich. 

Stepmothers  must  in  modern  story  be  made  always  good 
instead  of  always  bad,  as  they  used  to  be.  I  think  one 
hears  of  so  many  good  ones.  For  instance  Lady  Simeon. 
Sir  John  has  just  left  us  having  paid  a  bachelor  visit  while 
his  wife  is  away  with  her  little  boy  for  change  of  air. 

•  ••••• 

I  am  glad  you  have  a  little  bit  of  imaginative  work  to 
do  though  not  one  you  would  perhaps  have  chosen,  yet  it 


268  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

must  be  a  relief  from  the  busts  of  dead  men  or  living  either. 
You  are  rather  vicious  about  the  National  Ode,  but  I  shall 
hand  you  over  to  Mrs.  Woolner  for  punishment.     Tell  her 
for  once  she  must  forego  her  nature. 
With  love  to  her, 

Believe  me. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

Thomas  Combe  to  T.  Woolner 

Oxford, 

Noveinher  14,  1865. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

Dr.  Acland  asked  me  if  he  could  purchase  a  cast  of 
y'^  bust  &  I  volunteered  to  give  him  one — plain  plaster. 
i  sh^  prefer  for  all  our  sakes  but  then  it  sh*^  be  under  glass 
to  prevent  the  maids  rubbing  my  face  every  morning  with  a 
dirty  duster.  So  it  will  be  best  to  paint  me.  ...  A  new 
spirit  has  certainly  come  over  Hunt  for  he  [has]  written 
me  a  second  letter  before  I  had  answered  the  first  and  in  a 
more  sprit ely  style  than  I  have  seen  for  months  [  &  years] 
He  tells  me  the  bands  ([bans]  were  asked  last  Sunday  so  I 
am  anticipating  the  next  and  most  important  act.  I  don't 
think  it  would  be  prudent  to  go  to  Jerusalem  at  present — 
the  risque  will  diminish  daily  to  other  places. 

.  .  .  Mrs.  Pat  will  probably  put  in  P.S.  so  I  have  only 
to  give  my  love  to  Alices  two  &  say 

I  am  yours  very  truly, 

T.C. 

T.  Woolner  to  F.  T.  Palgrave 

Farringford, 

Freshwater,  I.  W., 

November  28,  1865. 

Dear  Frank, 

I  am  much  obliged  for  your  good  services  [anent] 
"  the  Gladstone  Mem  "  and  am  highly  delighted  at  the  notion 
of  Homeric  basso-relievos,  Tennyson  thinks  Achilles  crying 
out  from  the  trenches  on  one  side,  and  Andromache  watch- 
ing from  a  tower  the  body  of  Hector  being  dragged  round 
the  walls  on  the  other,  with  Homer  himself  in  the  front 
won't  be  a  good  choice  of  subject.  I  shall  be  back  in  town 
on  Friday,  and  then  I  shall  talk  with  you  on  the  subject  : 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  269 

I  am  almost  afraid  to  make  my  experiments  with  the  bust 
itself,  for  as  it  now  stands  it  is  exacth^-  as  I  conceived  it 
originally,  and  I  fear  any  change  would  weaken  the  sense 
of  its  oneness,  the  soul  of  Art ;  and  I  think  it  more  strictly 
appropriate  that  he  should  look  the  living  man  surmounting 
the  ideal  subjects,  to  avoid  any  possibility  of  being  mistaken 
for  the  poet  himself  instead  of  his  commentator.  This 
change  has  done  my  eye  a  great  deal  of  good.  .  .  . 

Yours 

ThOS  :  WOOLNER. 

Thomas  Combe  to  T.  Woolner 

Oxford, 

December  12,  1865. 

My  dear  Sculptor, 

Dr.  Acland  told  me  on  Saturday  that  he  had  re- 
ceived the  bust^  and  was  so  pleased  with  it  that  he  thought 
it  as  delightful  to  look  at  as  the  marble.  I  shall  certainly 
consider  myself  yr.  debtor  for  it  &  also  the  one  sent  to  the 
Nattalis — you  shall  make  me  a  present  some  years  hence. 

I  have  another  subject  for  ydu,  Dr.  Newman,  as  fine  a 
head  as  any  you  have  done.  I  have  promised  it  to  my  wife 
who  will  write  to  the  Doctor  for  his  assent.  What  a 
glorious  evening  you  must  have  had  with  Gladstone, 
Hunt  etc.  etc. — he  must  indeed  have  been  pleased  to  stay 
so  late.  I  doubt  not  the  Memorial  does  delight  him  for 
he  has  a  large  love  for  Oxford  &  ever  w^ill  have — I  regret 
having  been  so  dummy  as  to  relinquish  the  bust  .  .  . 
you  must  put  out  al]  yr.  strength  on  the  pedestal — let  it 
(be?)  original  like  no  other  pedestal.  .  .  . 

Our  love  to  Both. 

Yours  ever 

Th.  Combe. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringford, 

December  19,  1865. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

•  ••••• 

Now  you  must  let  me  write  myself  to  say  that 
Alfred  has  arrived  safely  this  morning  by  the  12.30  boat, 
having  slept  at  Lymington  and  dined  and  breakfasted  w4th 

^  Plaster  cast  of  Bust  of  Thomas  Combe. 


270  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Mr.  Allingham,  and  tell  you  how  grateful  I  feel  to  Mrs. 
Woolner  and  yourself  for  all  the  enjoyment  you  have  given 
him.  His  letters  have  always  had  such  a  happy  tone,  that 
I  am  sure  that  none  of  the  trouble  you  have  taken  to  amuse 
him  has  been  thrown  away. 

The  boys  are  already  looking  much  better.  We  have 
got  a  second  and  bigger  pony  for  them. 

•  •«••• 

Believe  me, 

With  all  kindest  remembrances  to  you  both, 

Most  truly  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  T.  Woolner 

Hawarden, 

December  26,  1865. 
Dear  Mr.  Woolner 

I  have  not  by  me  the  Act  respecting  the  New  Law 
Courts  :  but  I  do  not  know  that  the  First  Comm^  of 
Works  has  any  Status  in  the  Commission  except  that  of  a 
member  :  and  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  controul  of  the 
Treasury  is  chiefly  general  and  financial. 

For  my  own  part  I  am  unable  to  follow  the  general 
course  of  proceedings  :  but  I  give  attention  when  needed 
through  the  Two  Treasury  members.  As  regards  Mr. 
Waterhouse  personally  I  gather  that  there  is  a  very  favour- 
able feeling  towards  him  :  but  that  his  surrender  of  the 
duty  of  framing  the  block  plans  was  reluctantly  required 
as  absolutely  necessary  to  secure  anything  like  equality 
of  footing. 

As  regards  competition,  I  have  no  strongly  formed 
opinion  :  but  this  question  is  one  which  I  think  could 
only  be  raised  in  the  sense  you  desire,  by  the  legal  &  inde- 
pendent members  of  the  Commission.  While  I  am  very 
sensible  of  the  force  of  the  considerations  which  you  urge, 
I  can  only  offer  to  send  your  letter,  if  you  think  fit,  to  the 
Lord  Chancellor,  the  head  of  the  Commission. 

Wishing  you  &  Mrs.  Woolner  a  happy  Christmas — 
I  remain  most  faithfully  yours 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

I  think  G.  Hardy  would  make  a  very  good  bust.  Still  if 
they  put  him  opposite  to  me  in  the  Bodleian  I  hope  mine 
will  run  away. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  271 

William  Allingham  to  T.  Woolner 

Lymington, 

February  18,  1866. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

I  should  be  thankful  for  a  line  or  two  from  you, 
how  are  you  all  ?  &  how  manage  the  Tennysons  in  their 
new  circumstances?  I  had  a  pleasant  walk  of  5  miles 
with  T,  when  he  passed  thro'  here.  The  Wight  is  now  to 
me  "a  dissolute  island"  (as  we  say),  totally  uninhabited, 
yet  it  looks  pretty  to-day,  blue  gray  hills  behind  the  slip 
of  blueish  sea,  and  there's  greenness  and  sunshine  on  the 
Hampshire  foreground.  What  wind,  what  wet  we  have 
had.  Many  a  fine  tree  lies  uprooted.  Pylewell  Park 
yesterday  looked  like  a  battlefield  of  the  Giants,  huge  elms 
lay  cumbering  the  torn  sward.  I  would  you  were  here 
this  fine  day  for  a  walk  &  talk. 

Ireland's  fit  of  illness  goes  on,  not  a  fever,  but  a  fit  of 
mumps  or  boils,  as  it  were,  ugly  and  disagreeable.  A 
brother  of  mine  who  manages  a  bank  in  Waterford  thinks 
too  much  has  been  made  of  Fenianism  by  the  authorities. 
On  the  peasantry  he  thinks  it  has  no  hold  at  all.  Certainly 
if  the  Gov^  are  going  to  make  concessions  to  Ireland  just 
now,  they  ought  also  to  make  repressions,  &  show  the  kind 
hand  as  a  strong  hand.  Ireland  and  England  cannot  pro- 
perly be  governed  alike.  I  liked  Gladstone's  speech  in  the 
Irish  Debate,  but  he  or  anybody  could  scarcely  venture 
to  take  steps  of  needful  boldness  in  the  matter. 

Always  yours, 

W.  Allingham. 

I  beg  leave  to  present  my  best  respects  to  your  wife  & 
daughter,  tho'  as  yet  unintroduced. 

The  Oratory, 

BirmingJiam, 

March  1,  1866. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Combe, 

Thank  you  for  your  very  kind  letter.  ...  As  to 
your  proposal  that  I  should  sit  to  Mr.  Woolner,  as  you  may 
suppose,  at  first  it  startled  me — but  it  is  too  kind  and  too 
flattering  to  admit  of  my  declining  it — and  you  must  say 
so,  if  you  please,  with  my  most  sincere  acknowledgments  to 
Mr.  Combe.  .  .  . 

[This  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  Dr.  Newman's  to 
Mrs.  Combe.] 


272  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Dr.  John  Henry  Newman  to  T.  Woolner 

The  Oratory,  ^ 

Birmingham, 

June  9,  1866. 

My  dear  Sir, 

I  propose,  if  all  is  well,  presenting  myself  to  you  on 
Tuesday  morning  the  19th  at  any  hour  you  may  fix  after 
eleven.  And  then  I  will  come  to  you,  as  you  wish,  morn- 
ing after  morning,  till  you  have  done  with  me.  And  I 
will  not  forget  the  photographs. 

Very  truly  yours, 

John  H.  Newman. 
Thos.  Woolner,  Esq. 

F.  T.  Palgrave  to  T.  Woolner 

Sea  View  House, 
Swanage, 

September  14,  1866. 
Dear  Woolner, 

.  .  .  Gifford  in  his  hasty  notes  before  leaving, 
mentioned  seeing  you,  and  I  hope  you  managed  to  have  a 
pleasant  evening  or  two  together.  He  has  not  yet  ex- 
hausted all  the  stimulus  of  his  character,  &  would  not 
heartily  acquiesce  in  an  English  life  at  present  :  yet  it  is 
with  great  regret  that  we  see  him  leave  us  again  :  and  I 
am  sure  he  will  have  wanted  all  the  encouragement  of  his 
friends  to  inspirit  him  for  the  Euxine.  .  .  .  We  hope  to 
send  the  children  to  London  on  Wednesday  next  &  to  go 
ourselves  to  Salisbury,  Glastonbury,  &  Wells  :  returning 
to  York  Gate  on  Monday.  .  .  .  We  have  had  but  a  dis- 
comfortable  autumn,  but  like  this  place  extremely.  It  is 
much  like  Freshwater  only  on  a  larger  scale  &  with  a  total 
freedom  from  Cockneys  &  .  .  . 

Ever  very'- truly  yours, 

F.  T.  Palgrave. 

I  have  begun  an  essay  on  Crabbe,  and  find  it  very  inter- 
esting work. 

T.  Woolner  to  F.  T.  Palgrave 

September  16,  1866. 

Dear  Frank, 

...  I  was  glad  to  hear  from  Giffy  that  you  liked 
the  place  you  are  at  so  well  and  which  he  seemed  also  to 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  273 

have  enjoyed  very  much.  He  looked  rather  dull  at  the 
leaving  all  his  old  friends  for  such  a  bleak  region,  and  for 
an  indefinite  time  :  he  could  not  do  with  rest  as  his  daily 
life  for  the  present,  I  am  sure,  but  he  has  had  of  moving 
about  rather  more  than  even  his  restlessness  can  digest 
comfortably.  I  spent  a  very  pleasant  evening  with  him 
and  your  other  brothers,  who  had  come  up  to  wish  the 
traveller  God-speed — and  he  also  came  to  our  house  two 
evenings.  ...  I  have  finished  Prescott's  model;  Mrs. 
Prescott  says  it  is  perfect,  and  that  all  the  friends  she  has 
sent  to  see  it  speak  not  only  in  praise  but  in  rapture  of  it. 
It  is  a  satisfaction  to  have  pleased  her  and  this  was  not  an 
easy  task ;  it  is  of  course  quite  a  different  looking  thing  to 
when  you  saw  it.  I  have  been  working  hard  at  Fowler's 
bust  and  have  done  save  a  little  scraping  in  holes  and 
corners.  .  .  . 

Yours  ever, 

t.  woolner. 

William  Alijngham  to  T.  Woolner 

Lymingtoriy 

October  5,  1866. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

Many  thanks  for  your  friendly  note  of  some  time 
ago.  I  have  been  intending  to  write,  but  now  that  I  begin, 
have  little  more  to  say  than  to  wish  you  all  good  luck  in 
your  visit  to  Italy.  You  are  not  quite  gone  yet  I  suppose  ? 
Who  knows  but  one  of  my  winter  days  here  will  be  bright- 
ened up  by  a  letter  from  Rome,  at  least  I  will  hope  so. 

The  Tennysons  came  back  to  Farringford,  I  have  not 
seen  them  but  hear  they  are  pretty  well.  .  .  .  We  have 
had  wet  and  stormy  weather,  then  a  few  fine  days,  almost 
too  hot,  now  grey  and  misty  sky  over  the  changing  woods. 

Poor  unlucky  Ireland  has  again  a  bad  harvest  and  is  in 
very  low  spirits,  the  only  relief,  as  usual,  for  her  children 
an  escape  to  America.  No  people  want  good  governing 
so  much  as  the  Irish,  or  would  (even  yet,  however  late) 
take  with  it  better  but  alas  !  I  go  on  reading  old  Irish 
History  and  shall  perhaps  get  some  light  upon  it.  As  to 
writing  upon  it,  or  on  anything  (save  for  the  market) 
that  is  a  thankless  task.  However,  one  goes  on,  and  finds 
compensation. 

Any  chance  at  all  of  your  running  down  here  for  a  couple 
of  days  before  you  start  ?     I  long  for  a  long  walk  and  talk, 

T 


274  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

and  we  could  go  over  to  Farringford.  Did  you  see  a  paper 
of  mine  on  Clough  in  last  Fraser  ?  Mrs.  Clough  wished  me 
to  write,  I  think,  but  most  probably  will  not  be  satisfied. 
'Tis  inadequate  certainly — very,  but  honest,  and  that's 
all  about  it.  A  paper  in  Cornhill  (by  whom  ?)  takes  nearly 
the  same  view  of  A.H.C. 

Kindest  regards  I  beg  leave  to  send  to  your  Wife  and 
Daughter  and  with  best  wishes  remain. 

Always  truly  yours, 

W.  Allingham. 

William  Allingham  to  T.  Woolner 

Lymington, 

December  12,  1866. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  went  over  and  saw  Tennyson  the  day  before 
yesterday.  All  well  at  Farringford  intending  as  you  know 
to  go  after  Christmas  to  lodgings  at  a  farm  house  in  Surrey. 
Mrs.  Tennyson  told  me  that  you  are  expected  at  Farring- 
ford for  Christmas,  and  asked  me  too,  but  I  was  booked 
some  time  ago  to  go  to  London  for  that  holiday.  'Tis 
only  for  three  or  four  days  and  I  hope  I  shall  find  you  here- 
abouts on  my  return.  Pray  tell  me  your  plans,  I  should 
be  sorry  to  miss  you. 

An  intimation  came  the  other  day  of  my  election  to  the 
Century  Club,  which  no  doubt  I  to  owe  you,  so  please  be 
thanked  accordingly.  .  .  . 

I  am  digging  away  at  old  Irish  Annals,  plenty  of  materials, 
but  O  in  such  confusion  !  I  can't  possibly  get  the  books 
&c  here  which  I  want ;  none  to  borrow,  a  few  must  be  bought 
painfully  !    others  waited  for. 

Tell  me,  is  Carlyle  in  London,  and  will  he  be  at  Christmas  ? 
I  am  specially  desirous  to  know  this. 

What  changes  of  weather  we  have,  Saturday  bright  and 
frosty,  Sunday  muggy  and  overcast,  Monday  bright  and 
springlike,  Tuesday  general  fog,  Wednesday  mild  and  moist. 
But  this  is  not  amusing  and  I  am  come  to  the  end 
of  my  tether,  so  pray  accept  kind  regards  for  your  wife, 
children  and  self  from 

Yours  always, 

W.  Allingham. 

My  friends  in  Ireland  don't  express  any  alarm  about  the 
Fenians,  it  is  chiefly  no  doubt  an  American  game. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  275 


T.  WooLNER  TO  William  Allingham. 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

February  9,  1867. 

My  dear  Allingham, 

I  could  not  as  I  expected  find  time  to  send  you  a 
letter  from  Rome  and  was  unable  to  send  to  any  one  save 
my  wife,  &  had  to  write  to  her  when  I  was  so  tired  I  could 
scarcely  do  anything  but  sleep. 

But  tho'  I  did  not  write  I  bore  you  in  mind  and  when  I 
went  to  visit  the  grave  of  Shelley  I  gathered  a  violet  from 
it  to  send  you;  but  now  the  poor  shrivelled  little  thing 
seems  a  mockery  and  makes  me  almost  ashamed  to  send 
it ;  but  it  will  serve  to  show  you  my  will  was  good  to  write 
tho'  my  opportunity  was  nil. 

It  was  a  lovely  bright  morning  and  tho'  January  the 
flowers  were  so  gay,  the  grass  so  cheerful,  and  the  tall 
cypresses  looked  so  stately  and  sentinel-like  that  you  felt 
it  would  be  no  great  mischance  to  lie  snugly  there  among 
the  English  dead — I  went  also  to  the  grave  of  Keats  and 
there  were  no  flowers  growing  upon  it;  but  there  was  a 
ragged,  weedy,  half  wild  look  which  in  the  warm  balmy 
sunshine  made  it  some  way  seem  appropriate  to  the  shade 
of  the  lovely  young  poet.  I  lingered  round  it  and  felt  as  if 
I  were  leaving  a  dearly  loved  friend  when  I  had  to  go.  I 
cannot  attempt  to  explain  or  give  an  account  of  the  Art 
of  Italy ;  it  would  take  three  volumes  of  large  proportions 
to  tell  you  all  my  opinions,  and  would  take  many  months 
to  condense  those  opinions  into  the  bounds  of  a  letter  ! 
I  must  reserve  chat  on  this  and  many  other  subjects  till 
I  have  my  long-wished-for  walk  with  you  in  the  New  Forest, 
and  I  hope  this  year  will  be  more  fortunate  to  me  in  this 
respect  than  years  and  seasons  have  been  heretofore. 

When  you  have  a  few  minutes  tell  me  how  you  are  going 
on,  and  what  you  are  working  at.  I  saw  Carlyle  at  Men- 
tone  and  was  delighted  to  find  the  dear  old  fellow  in  good 
spirits,  and  Lady  Ashburton  was  rejoiced  in  having  the 
mighty  man  to  pet  and  honour  and  make  cosily  comfort- 
able. He  was  deeply  grieved  at  the  terrible  loss  ^  of  poor 
Hunt  and  said  it  contained  all  the  elements  of  a  tragic  event. 
I  saw  Gladstone  at  Florence  and  he  was  leaving  that  day 
for  England ;  he  seemed  to  have  produced  a  strong  impres- 
sion upon  the  Italians.     Hunt  was  plunging  deep  down  into 

^  Death  of  his  wife,  Fanny. 


276  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

work  hoping  to  keep  the  hard  fixed  sorrow  at  a  kind  of 
bay.  .  .  .  Rome  is  the  most  interesting  town  I  was  ever 
in  save  and  except  London,  which  I  consider  the  most 
interesting  town  that  has  ever  existed  on  the  earth,  but  if 
I  were  given  £1000  a  year  to  dwell  there  I  would  refuse 
to  do  so — ^therefore  a  philosopher  like  you  will  conclude 
there  are  some  objections  in  the  place.  .  .  . 

Ever  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

William  Allingham  to  T.  Woolner 

Lymington, 

February  20,  1867. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

Your  letter  was  welcome,  and  welcome  are  you  back 
to  England,  and  thrice  welcome  shall  you  be  at  Lymington 
when  you  can  come  down.  The  forest  is  budding,  primroses 
out  in  warm  nooks,  birds  singing  loudly  &c.  Many  thanks 
for  the  Shelley  violet.  I  have  some  weakness  for  relics  and 
reminders.  The  important  things  however  are  what  one 
preserves  in  memory  and  experience  wherefore  I  envy  you 
(in  a  friendly  sense)  your  trip  to  Rome,  short  as  it  was,  and 
dirty  as  that  town  no  doubt  is. 

When  will  you  come  ?  I  must  bed  you  out.  I  am 
going  on  more  or  less  (rather  less  than  more)  with  Irish 
affairs,  feel  discouraged  too  often  and  can't  believe  I  can 
do  anything  worth  while.  Poor  Hunt's  is  a  very  sad  loss. 
Kindest  regards  to  your  wife  and  babes  from 

Yours  always, 

W.  Allingham. 

I  noted  in  the  Athenceum  that  your  beautiful  "  Mother 
and  Child  "  is  gone  to  South  Kensington. 

N.B. — Had  you  lived  four  hundred  years  ago  you  would 
have  done  supernatural  ditto.  But  the  natural  is  the  true 
miracle. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

GiFFORD    PaLGRAVE    TO    T.    WOOLNER 

Goukhoum-Kale, 

February  17,  1867. 
Dear  Woolner, 

The  news  I  saw  in  the  Papers  a  few  days  since 
reporting  the  death  of  your  Sister-in-law  at  Florence, 
grieved  me  most  deeply.  I  know  that  letters  are  in  such 
cases  poor  consolers,  still  you  and  your  family  may  like 
to  know  that  you  have  some  one  who  sympathizes  most 
sincerely  with  your  sorrow,  even  in  this  out  of  the  way 
corner  of  the  Black  Sea  Coast.  Where  I  now  am  we  are 
surrounded  by  death  and  illness,  thanks  to  the  marsh- 
fever  ...  Of  about  1500  soldiers  the  average  deaths  are 
2|  a  day.  Some  how  or  other  my  own  health  is  excellent, 
but  I  am  quite  an  exception  here.  Perhaps  it  is  riding  and 
shooting  that  keeps  me  well  :  certainly  not  society,  for 
here  is  none.  But  horses  are  cheap,  and  wild-duck  plenty. 
To  give  you  an  idea  of  the  people  of  the  land  I  send  you  a 
photograph  of  one,  the  cloak  is  sheepskin,  so  is  the  head- 
dress, the  things  on  the  breast  are  cartridges.  When  I 
next  come  to  England  I  hope  to  bring  with  me  for  you  some 
better  worth  having.  But  the  inhabitants  are  no  beauties 
in  general.  .  .  .  Affectionate  remembrance  to  Mrs.  Woolner 
and  yourself. 

Ever  yours  most  truly, 

W.    GiFFORD    PaLGRAVE. 

Edward  Fitzgerald  to  T.  Woolner. 

Market  Hill, 

Woodbridge, 

March  8  [1867]. 

Sir, 

Donne  tells  me  that  you  have  been  so  good  as  to 
superintend  the  Packing  of  your  Tennyson  Bust  :  which 
reached  me  safe  yesterday.  For  which  allow  me  to  thank 
you  :    as  also  for  the  loan  of  the  Box.  .  .  .When  it  came, 

277 


278  THOMAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 

a  young  Sailor,  a  great  Friend  of  mine  happened  to  be  with 
me,  and  helped  to  lift  the  Poet  out  of  the  (saw)  dust,  when 
this  was  done,  I  said  to  my  Man — "  There  is  what  is 
called  A  Poet,  who  25  or  30  years  ago  might  have  stood 
up  to  fight  you."  He  said  "  Well,  sir,  he's  a  grand  looking 
Gentleman,  and  no  mistake."  I  used  to  tell  A.T.  in  those 
Days  he  had  something  of  the  Air  &  Look  of  a  Sailor  :  and 
meant  no  ill  compliment.  The  Sailor  I  now  speak  of  is  a 
moving  statue  of  Strength  and  Pliancy  too ;  like  one  of  the 
Elgin  Marbles.  .  .  .  And  this  Man  has  a  large  simple,  soul 
and  Dignity  of  Manner,  all  of  a  piece  :  much  more  The 
Gentleman  than  the  gentlefolks  of  the  Place  he  belongs 
to  :  and  very  much  more  Ladylike  than  the  Ladies. 

Your  much  obliged, 

Edward  Fitzgerald. 

Mrs.  Combe  to  T.  Woolner. 

The  Clarendon  Press, 

May  10  [1867]. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

We  rejoiced  to  learn  from  Miss  Smith  that  you  were 
better.  Do  not  retard  from  recovery  by  over  work.^  I 
was  sorry  Alice  was  away  when  Miss  Smith  called.  It  is 
always  a  pleasure  to  her  to  see  "  The  Creature,"  with  whom 
she  has  fallen  passionately  in  love,  if  only  for  a  few 
minutes.  .  .  . 

Remember  we  are  hoping  to  see  you  some  early  Saturday, 
and  Alice  and  the  children  next  month.  Our  warm  love 
attends  you  all. 

Believe  me, 

Yours  affectionately 

M.  Combe. 

F.  T.  Palgrave  to  T.  Woolner 

Mrs.  Porter'' s, 

Lyme  Regis, 

August  27,  1867. 

Dear  Woolner, 

I  have  waited  to  write  till  we  should  have  seen 
Seaton,  which  we  accomplished  yesterday,  i.e.  Cecil,  A. 

^  Woolner  had  suffered  a  bad  attack  of  inflammation  of  the  eyes,  through 
overwork  and  straining  the  eyes  working  by  artificial  light,  which  in  later 
years  he  gave  up  entirely. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  279 

Tennyson,  &  I.  (He  came  over  on  Saturday  &  in  a  day  or 
two  he  &  I  mean  to  go  for  a  walk  to  Dartmoor,  where  there 
is  some  idea  that  AlHngham  will  join  us)  ...  A  T.  &  I 
walked  to  Beerhead,  and  had  a  very  fine  view  of  the  Devon- 
shire coast  to  Start  Point,  i.e.  40  miles.  The  drive  hence 
to  Seaton  is  also  very  pretty.  We  are  well  pleased  with 
Lyme,  which  has  more  variety  than  Seaton,  &  as  our  little 
house  is  right  on  the  beach  which  is  sand,  not  only  pebbles, 
it  is  the  very  thing  for  the  children.  .  .  .  There  is  a  sort 
of  undercliff  here  made  by  landslips  which  is  one  of  the 
wildest  &  richest  scenes  I  know  in  England,  &  might  last  a 
landscape  painter  for  years.  .  .  .  Wish  us  good  weather 
for  Dartmoor.  The  bard  is  very  well  &  sends  you  all 
remembrances.  .  .     Were  you  at  the  wedding  ?  ^ 

Ever  thine, 

F.  T.  Palgrave. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  F.T.  Palgrave 

29,  Welheck  Street,  W., 

August  28,  1867. 
Dear  Palgrave, 

I  am  glad  to  have  so  good  an  account  of  Lyme  for 
its  own  account  and  for  the  good  it  is  doing  you  all.  ...  I 
have  been  working  hard  at  "  Virgilia  "  ^  and  shall  get  her 
done  I  hope  this  week.  She  creates  quite  an  enthusiasm; 
Francis,  who  was  here  a  few  days  back,  declares  he  thinks 
it  the  finest  piece  of  female  form  and  style  since  the  Fates 
were  sculptured  by  the  Immortal.  This  of  course  is  mere 
ecstasy,  but  as  all  who  see  it  say  something  of  the  sort,  and 
moreover  that  it  is  utterly  unlike  anything  else,  I  am  bound 
to  hope  it  may  strike  the  laiowing  with  respect.  .  .  . 

I  was  at  the  Peel  Wedding ;  it  was  a  pretty  business.  I 
thought  Lady  Amberley  very  bright  and  amusing. 

Ever  yours, 

Thos  :  Woolner. 

^  Wedding  of  Archibald  Peel. 

^  The  alto-relief  carved  in  marble  for  Louisa  Lady  Ashburton,  who 
gave  the  commission.  It  represents  "  Virgilia  bewaiUng  the  Banishment 
of  Coriolanus."  His  arms  are  in  her  keeping.  She  has  been  gazing  on  a 
bas-relief  on  the  wall  of  her  chamber  in  which  he  appears  as  he  "  fluttered 
the  Volscians  in  Corioli,"  and,  overwhelmed  with  bitterness,  she  flings 
herself  against  the  wall. 


280  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

December  8,  1867. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  knew  you  would  like  to  know  of  a  bit  of  good  luck 
in  the  worldly  professional  sense — I  am  to  execute  the 
London  statue  of  Lord  Palmerston  for  Palace  Yard,  the 
finest  site  in  the  whole  of  London,  which,  of  course,  was 
decided  on  when  W.  Cowper  was  Com  :  of  Works,  and  he 
naturally  looked  out  for  his  own.  The  matter  was  placed 
entirely  in  his  hands,  and  his  admiration  for  my  Godley 
statue  would  allow  him  to  think  of  no  other  sculptor  for 
the  veteran  Statesman.  Any  sculptor  would  have  crawled 
100  miles  on  hands  and  knees  to  have  got  this  commission. 

I  have  had  such  an  amount  of  admiration  for  "  Elaine  " 
that  I  fear  to  show  another  figure,  for  it  seems  to  me 
impossible  again,  or  at  least  soon  again,  to  satisfy  persons' 
feelings  so  fully.  The  explanation  is  that  the  spectators 
add  the  natural  pathos  and  beauty  of  the  story  itself  to  my 
sculpture,  and  thus  credit  me  with  the  merit  of  the  most 
lovely  love  story  in  the  world,  together  with  all  the  glow 
and  genius  which  the  Bard  has  given  it.  I  enclose  you 
an  account  of  "  Elaine  "  from  the  Athenceum.  Pray  do 
not  hold  me  accountable  for  this  paper;  it  was  done  by 
an  enthusiastic  admirer,  an  old  gentleman  I  have  only  seen 
once  or  twice,  but  who  declares  that  I  must  before  long  have 
the  world  at  my  feet,  or  the  sun  in  my  pocket,  or  something 
of  the  kind,  and  sent  a  few  of  these  slips  &c.  to  tell  me  he  had 
sent  them  to  the  newspapers  all  over  America,  in  order  that 
the  van  of  the  human  race  should  be  made  acquainted  with 
the  latest  birth  of  time  ! 

When  is  the  Bard  really  coming  so  far  as  you  can  guess, 
for  that  of  course  is  the  most  even  you  can  do  ? 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thos  :  Woolner. 

Dr.  Joseph  Hooker  to  T.  Woolner 

Royal  Gardens,  Kew, 

December  11,  1867. 
Dear  Old  Woolner, 

I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  you  are  so  poorly — there  is 
nothing  like  change  of  air  for  a  cold  or  influenza.     My 


CAPTAIN    COOK 

Colossal  Statue  for  Sydney,  1878. 


[To  face  page  280. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  281 

wife  has  cured  hers  by  the  change  to  the  beastly  cHmate  of 
Cambridge  !  Can  you  not  come  here  &  rusticate  for  a  few 
days  ?  .  .  . 

Ever  sincerely  yrs. 

Jos  :  D.  Hooker. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  writes  :  March  6,  1868.  "  Joy  to  you, 
my  dear  Mr.  Woolner,  on  your  great  good  fortune,  may  it 
be  only  the  beginning."  This  refers  to  a  picture  he  had  just 
bought  and  of  which  he  was  very  proud.  He  began  about 
this  date  to  collect  paintings. 

There  are  several  passages  in  contemporary  memoirs 
suggesting  he  made  a  great  deal  of  money  by  buying  and 
selling  pictures  ^ — it  was  not  his  picture  collecting  that 
enabled  him  (as  one  writer  states)  "  to  die  a  wealthy  man," 
though  the  term  "  wealthy  "  is  a  matter  of  opinion,  but 
the  result  of  hard  work  at  his  art  for  over  forty  years. 
Another  contemporary  went  so  far  as  to  say  "  he  dissipated 
his  energies  in  making  a  collection  of  pictures."  One  has  only 
to  look  at  the  list  of  works  in  this  Life  to  realize  how  abso- 
lutely false  and  misleading  this  statement  is.  Since  Wool- 
ner returned  from  Australia  in  1854  all  the  large  statues 
and  monuments,  all  the  busts  and  most  of  the  ideal  work 
were  done,  all  in  fact  save  the  early  plaster  models  done 
between  1842  and  1852  when  he  left  England.  The  picture 
collecting  was  an  expensive  hobby  rather  than  a  source  of 
wealth ;  and  although  often  he  received  a  higher  price  for  a 
picture  than  he  gave  for  it ;  in  some  cases  he  paid  much 
more  than  the  picture  fetched  in  later  days.  Being  an 
enthusiast,  if  he  admired  a  picture  and  wanted  it  he  would 
buy  it  without  considering  much  the  consequences — for 
fashion  rules  much  in  pictures  as  in  other  matters  and 
whereas  the  beautiful  works  of  Mulready  fetched  high  prices 
thirty  years  ago  they  are  now  considered  old  fashioned 
and  deemed  of  small  worth.  Woolner  was  an  enthusiastic 
collector  and  really  felt  the  joy  of  discovering  in  some  out 

^  This  mention  of  money  at  all,  is  only  touched  upon  to  correct  erroneous 
statements  that  have  crept  about  through  several  agencies,  and,  in  fact, 
the  money  left  did  not  represent  by  thousands  what  he  had  earned  by  his 
sculpture. 


282  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

of  the  way  spot  a  dirty  old  painting,  bringing  it  back, 
cleaning  it  and  finding  it  a  treasure.  It  is  the  same  with  all 
collectors  :  the  discovery  of  the  unexpected  is  so  delightful  : 
just  as  the  conchologist  rejoices  in  finding  an  uncommon 
shell  in  a  little  heap  of  wet  sand  or  pebbles  and  the  phila- 
telist when  looking  over  bundles  of  letters  sees  a  rare  stamp 
on  an  old  envelope,  so  does  the  picture  collector  exult  in 
his  find.  Woolner  had  the  enthusiasm  of  collecting  in 
him,  he  collected  many  things  besides  pictures  :  engravings 
enamels,  bronzes,  china,  and  Japanese  ivories  and  lacquers, 
in  fact  anything  he  thought  beautiful.  Adding  to  his 
collection  was  one  of  his  greatest  pleasures  and  recreations 
in  London,  after  the  day's  work  was  done,  for  Work  was  his 
aim  in  life — ^the  very  reason  of  existence  to  his  mind ;  Work 
was  almost  a  religion  with  him.  "  L'enthousiasme  c'est  la 
seule  vertu  "  (Rostand)  is  almost  a  truth  and  certainly 
without  it  nothing  great  is  achieved.  Woolner  studied  the 
works  of  the  great  Masters,  chiefly  of  the  English  School, 
with  a  thoroughness  that  characterized  all  he  undertook. 
His  opinion  on  pictures  was  sought  by  his  friends  and 
others,  but  as  with  his  sculpture  antagonistic  critics  arose 
to  disparage  his  collection  and  his  judgment;  and  would 
behind  his  back  "  damn  with  faint  praise  '*  many  of  the 
works  in  his  possession — but  whatever  has  been  said  to  the 
contrary  Woolner  made  a  collection  of  very  beautiful 
pictures,  the  bulk  of  which  has  now  been  dispersed. 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Farringfordy 

Freshwater,  I.  W., 

March  26,  1868. 
My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

The  magnificent  looking  wild  boar  ham  has  arrived. 
I  mean  to  prove  myself  no  "  bird  of  Paradise  "  if  this 
needed  proof,  by  partaking  of  what  has  always  seemed  to  me 
a  romantic  dish.  How  should  it  not  be,  when  it  recalls 
to  one  the  Odyssey  and  all  sorts  of  beautiful  myths  and 
actual  wilds  and  forests  besides  ! 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  283 

I  beg  you  without  a  moment's  delay  to  insure  your 
pictures  if  you  have  not  already  done  so.  One  is  positively 
afraid  of  some  Nemesis  after  so  much  good  fortune.  No, 
I  am  not.  I  have  a  kind  of  feeling  that  good  fortune  is 
good  for  you,  and  if  so,  I  am  sure  that  you  will  have  it, 
for  have  we  not  all  what  is  best  for  us  ? 

With  our  love  and  best  thanks. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

I  mean  to  have  the  ham  cooked  in  wine  and  kept  for 
some  choice  occasion  if  possible. 

Charles  Darwin  to  T.  Woolner 

Doum,  Bromley, 

Kent,  S.E., 

March  10  [1869]. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Very  many  thanks  for  the  drawing  :    it  does  excel- 
lently— The  ''  Woolnerian  tip  "  is  worth  anything  to  me. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

Ch.  Darwin. 

The  infolded  point  of  the  human  ear  discovered  by 
Woolner,  described  in  the  Descent  of  Man,  It  was  when 
modelling  his  "Puck"  Woolner  noticed  the  little  pointed 
tips  that  are  seen  in  so  many  ears,  and  he  exaggerated 
these  in  the  statuette  to  a  fawn-like  ear  giving  an  impish 
look.  When  Mr.  Darwin  sat  to  him  he  imparted  to  the 
great  Naturalist  his  ideas  on  his  discovery. 

W.  E.  Darwin  to  T.  Woolner 

Southampton, 

June  7  [1869  ?]. 
Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

The  Medallion  has  come  quite  safe. 
It  makes  a  remarkably  fine  medallion  and  I  like  it  very 
much — I  am  sure  it  cannot  give  the  Wedgwoods  much 
trouble.  I  do  not  know  whether  I  should  send  this  to  the 
Wedgwoods  or  whether  the  original  you  have  should  go 
to  them,  or  the  reversed  cast. 

Yours  very  truly, 

W.  E.  Darwin. 


284  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  Welheck  Street,  W., 

Deoember  19,  1869. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

Will  you  please  give  my  best  thanks  to  the  Bard  for 
"  The  Holy  Grail  "  which  he  kindly  sent.  I  am  heartily 
glad  to  find  that  it  is  already  become  so  popular;  for  I 
find  nothing  but  golden  opinions  of  it  on  all  sides  :  I 
heard  one  man  say  that  he  did  not  know  but  that  it  was 
the  finest  thing  he  had  ever  done.  ...  I  heard  an  anecdote 
to  the  credit  of  a  publisher.  Morris  did  not  like  his  old 
ones  and  went  to  a  new  man — a  few  days  back  he  went 
to  have  a  settlement  and  expected  20  or  30£,  but  what  was 
his  astonishment  to  find  placed  in  his  hands  a  cheque  for 
£600  !!!.... 

Ever  truly  yours, 

T.  Woolner. 


Extracts  from  a  Long  Letter  from  Edward  Lear  to 

T.  Woolner. 

Maison  Guichdrd, 
Cannes, 

May  I,  1870. 
Dear  Woolner, 

As  I  am  not  likely  to  see  you  &  Mrs.  Woolner  this 
summer.  ...  I  shall  send  a  line  or  two,  in  hopes  that  one 
day  you  may  post  one  in  return.  I  have  had  a  long  letter 
from  Daddy.  ...  In  the  last  letter  I  had  written  to  him  I 
find  I  have  knocked  my  head  against  a  wall ;  for  supposing 
that  he  was — as  he  used  to  be — of  what  you  &  I  should  call 
"  advanced  or  liberal  principles  "  in  religious  matters,  I  had 
spoken  about  the  increase  of  rationalistic  &  antimiraculous 
thought,  &  hoped  his  future  pictures  would  point  or  express 
such  progress.  Whereas  I  find  I  never  made  a  greater  mis- 
take, &  that  on  the  contrary,  he  is  becoming  a  literalist 
about  all  biblical  lore,  &  has  a  holy  horror  of  Darwin, 
Deutsch  .  .  .  meanwhile  if  he  should  paint  Balaam's  Ass 
or  Gideon's  Fleece  it  will  not  surprise  me.  .  .  .  What  are 
you  yourself  about  ?  &  how  is  Mrs.  Woolner  &  all  your 
children  ?  also  my  little  brother  Cyril. ^  .  .  .  How  did  you, 
&  how  did  the  friends  whose  names  you  so  goodnaturedly 
procured  as  subscribers  like  my  Corsica  book?  .  .  .  What 

^  Son  of  Holman  Hunt,  aged  three  and  a  half  years. 


HIS  LIFE   IN  LETTERS 


285 


do  you  think  as  I  have  been  &  gone  &  done  ?  I  grow  so 
tired  of  noisy  lodgings,  &  yet  am  so  more  &  more  unable 
to  think  of  ever  wintering  in  England — &  so  unable  to  bear 
the  expense  of  two  houses  &  two  journies  annually  that  I 
have  bought  a  bit  of  ground  at  San  Remo  &  am  actually 
building  a  house  there.  It  was  to  have  been  like  this — only 
the  architect  wouldn't  let  me 
carry  out  my  simple  principles 
of  Art.  1.  Dining  Room.  2. 
Drawing  Room.  3.  Staircase 
window.  4.  Hall  windows.  5. 
Street-door.  6  &  7.  Back  & 
front  bells.  I  regret  extremely 
that  I  have  been  prevented 
from  building  on  the  plan.  My 
house  will  be  done  in  November, 
&  then  I  shall  get  all  my  Strat- 
ford Place  furniture  .  .  .  out  by 
steamer  .  .  .  &  so  I  shall  begin 
life  again  for  the  5*^  &  last  time, 
ings  this  winter  &  have  no  commissions  ahead,  I  shall 
endeavour  to  live  upon  little  Figs,  in  summertime  &  on 
worms  in  the  winter.  I  shall  have  28  olive  trees  &  a  small 
bed  of  onions  :  &  a  stone  terrace,  with  a  gray  Parrot  & 
2  hedgehogs  to  walk  up  &  down  on  it  by  day  &  by  night. 
Anyhow  I  shall  have  a  good  painting  room  with  an  absolute 
North  light.  .  .  the  room  being  32  feet  long  by  20  broad. 
I  hope  some  day  you  &  Mrs.  Woolner  may  see  me  there.  .  . 

Yours    sincerely, 

Edward  Lear. 


As  I  have  sold  no  draw- 


Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Aldworth, 

Black  Doum, 
Haslemere, 

October  4,  1870. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

.  .  .  Would  that  some  creative  brain  of  some  great 
Statesman  could  devise  a  mode  of  vital  union  between 
England  and  her  Colonies  so  that  they  might  indeed  be 
one. 

First,  I  would  have  everv  man  amoncf  us  trained  to  arms 
that  we  might  keep  the  peace,  then  I  would  have  everyone 
taught  to  read  and  write  and  sing   and   cypher,  whether 


286  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

he  would  or  no  or  whether  his  parents  would  or  no,  then  I 
would  have  one  great  Council  formed  of  men  from  all  the 
Colonies  from  England  or  rather  Great  Britain.  These 
should  originate  legislative  measures  for  discussion  in  a 
really  imperial  Parliament,  which  should  I  hope  decide 
how  best  to  give  most  to  each  other,  not  how  to  keep  most 
each  for  himself  or  his  Colony  or  his  island;  but  I  shall 
weary  you,  and  soon  I  hope  you  will  come  and  talk  to  us 
about  these  and  other  matters.  I  am  exceeding  weary. 
We  have  had  such  an  uninterrupted  stream  of  guests. 

Kindest  remembrances  to  Mrs.  Woolner  and  to  "  Guini- 
vere  "  ^  whom  A.  admires  much. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

T.  Woolner  to  Mrs.  Tennyson 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

October  9,  1870. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Tennyson, 

I  wish  you  were  the  Queen  of  England  with  Bacons 
and  Raleighs  and  Walsinghams  to  carry  out  your  glorious 
ideas,  in  which  I  need  hardly  say  I  most  heartily  sympa- 
thize ;  and  none  the  less  so  because  there  is  not  the  remotest 
chance  of  their  being  carried  out.  .  .  . 

The  truth  is  we  are  a  sinking  people,  and  every  sign  shows 
it.  England  has  commuted  her  chivalrous  sword  jby  which 
she  gained  and  maintained  kingdoms  to  a  money-bag, 
which  she  turns  towards  and  falls  down  to  worship,  leaving 
her  back  exposed  to  her  enemies. 

There  was  a  time  when  thieves,  and  coarse  ruffians  were 
called  the  "  dangerous  classes,"  and  they  are  still  called 
so  by  the  unthinking  :  but  the  dangerous  classes  are  .  .  . 
the  other  innumerable  hosts  of  doctrinaires  who  would 
put  down  war  and  make  the  country  rich  ! — Rich  indeed  : 
the  King  of  Lydia  was  rich  in  gold;  I  wonder  when  his 
enemy  came  and  took  his  gold,  and  killed  him  if  he  remem- 
bered Solon's  phrase  about  the  value  of  iron  ? — 

These  doctrinaire  gentlemen  mean  us  to  lose  our  Colonies 
one  by  one;  and  they  mean  India  certainly  to  go;  they 
will  if  they  can,  give  Ireland  a  constitution  of  their  own ; 
and  above  all  things  here  in  England  they  mean  to  set  Jack 

^  By  request  of  Tennyson  an  engraving  of  the  statue  of  "  Guinivere  " 
was  made  as  frontispiece  to  The  Idylls. 


[Photograph  by  II.  Dixon. 
RT.    HON.    W.    E.    GLADSTONE,     1883 
Marble  Bust  in  Guildhall. 


[To  face  page  287. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  287 

above  his  master;  their  process  for  effecting  this  will  be 
one  they  are  pleased  to  call  Universal  Suffrage.  They  have 
already  allowed  their  chief  tradesman  orator  to  announce 
officially  from  his  high  place  on  the  Governmental  seat, 
that  false  weights  and  measures  are  things  that  ought  not 
to  be  interfered  with,  and  that  it  would  be  gross  tyranny  to 
do  so;  and  therefore,  considering  that  there  has  been  no 
official  repudiation  of  this  announcement,  and  that  the 
orator  is  getting  still  his  £5000  a  year  shows  that  the  nation 
acquiesces.  We  may  regard  in  spirit  England's  degrada- 
tion completed.  We  cannot  fight  these  things  that  get 
into  the  grain  of  the  wood  :  the  tree  may  bear  lightning,  or 
the  wrestle  of  a  thousand  storms,  but  when  the  worm  once 
enters  the  grain,  its  fall  is  then  only  a  question  of  time. 
We  worship  commonplace  men,  and  rich  men,  and  quack 
men,  and  worse  than  all  clever,  good,  doctrinaire  men  .  .  . 
who  are  ruining  the  greatness  of  our  country  on  philoso- 
phical principles,  and  the  only  difference  between  whom 
and  blood-stained  ferocious  republicans  is,  that  the  last 
drive  you  headlong  into  anarchy  and  ruin,  whereas  the 
others  organize  your  road  to  destruction. — All  of  which 
things  you  know  as  well  as  I  do ;  only  such  ideas  being  old 
and  of  a  past  age  I  dare  not  say  them  without  exciting 
wrath  or  pity  from  any  but  a  very  few,  and  it  is  a  comfort 
to  say  a  word  of  truth  to  one  who  can  feel  a  glow  of  Eng- 
land's ancient  glory.     My  love  to  the  Bard. 

Ever  yours, 

T.    WOOLNER. 


Edward  Fitzgerald  to  T.  Woolner. 

Market  Hill, 

Woodbridge, 
Tuesday,  October  (25)  [1870]. 
Dear  Sir, 

To-day  we  send  you  off  the  little  Churchyard,^ 
which  won't  take  up  much  room  if  it  does  not  give  you  much 
pleasure.  It  is  not  very  luminous,  as  you  will  see,  but, 
I  think,  touched  with  grace,  one  of  many  such  little  bits 
as  he  used  to  do,  on  the  back  of  a  cigar  box,  which  I  think 
made  rather  a  good  ground  for  his  colour.  Now,  this  is 
such  a  little  thing  that  I  don't  wish  you  to  spend  your  time 
writing  thanks  for  it,  only  let  me  know  if  it  doesnt  reach 

^  A  Suffolk  painter. 


288  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

you.  I  wish  I  had  a  Httle  Nursey  to  send  you;  I  have 
two  or  three  rather  larger  ones  (for  which  reason  you  might 
not  care  to  have  one  of  them)  and  they  are  not  his  best. 

These  amateurs — and  I  think  all  Painters  except  the 
best,  are  best  in  their  slight  sketches,  done  at  a  heat.  They 
nearly  always  muddle  when  they  get  to  working  up  in  cold 
blood. 

The  trees  are  in  fine  colour  now.  And  last  night  we 
had  an  Aurora  well  worth  being  out  of  London,  or  even 
Paris,  to  behold.  "  First  came  a  white  Beam,  and  then 
came  a  Rose  "  shelving  the  white  one  away  Eastward, 
and  then  the  rose  followed  catching  up  the  Pleiads  and 
Jupiter  below  them,  and  there  was  a  grand  Sword-dance 
half  over  the  sky,  more  like  Beams  of  Goliath  than  Swords, 
however. 

Yours  truly, 

E.  Fitzgerald. 


Charles  Darwin  to  T.  Woolner 

Down,  Beckenham, 

Kent,  S.E., 

April  7  [1871]. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  daresay  you  often  meet  &  know  well  painters. 
Could  you  persuade  some  trustworthy  men  to  observe  young 
&  inexperienced  girls  who  serve  as  models,  &  who  at  first 
blush  much,  how  low  down  the  body  the  blush  extends.  .  .  . 
Moreau  says  a  celebrated  French  painter  once  saw  a  new 
model  blushing  all  over  her  body.  So  that  I  want  much  to 
hear  what  the  experience  is  of  cautious  &  careful  English 
artists  :  I  always  distrust  memory — can  you  aid  me  ? 

The  tips  to  the  ears  have  become  quite  celebrated.  One 
Reviewer  (Nature)  says  they  ought  to  be  called,  as  I  sug- 
gested in  joke,  Angulus  Woolnerianus. 

A  great  German  physiologist  is  very  proud  to  find  that  he 
has  the  tips  well  developed  &  I  believe  will  send  me  a  photo- 
graph of  his  ears ;  &  if  a  good  case,  I  think  I  would  have 
it  photographed  on  wood  engraved  for  new  Edit.  Making 
of  course  no  change  in  my  text. 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

Ch.  Darwin. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

WooLNER  was  elected  an  Associate  of  the  Royal  Academy 
in  1871,  and  it  was  in  this  year  the  great  Lord  Lawrence 
came  to  sit  to  Woolner,  who  modelled  two  busts  of  him : 
the  first  portrait  was  treated  in  a  classical  manner  and  was 
without  drapery ;  the  second  had  a  cloak  around  the  shoul- 
ders decorated  with  the  Star  of  India,  and  it  is  this  bust, 
which,  carved  in  marble,  in  1880  was  placed  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  where  Lord  Lawrence  was  buried. 

In  the  same  year  (1871)  as  the  first  bust  was  made 
Woolner  began  a  sketch  of  a  statue  of  Lord  Lawrence — 
he  was  a  magnificent  subject  for  such  a  work.  The 
statue,  in  which  dignity  and  grace  are  blended,  was  cast 
in  bronze  and  erected  at  Calcutta  during  his  lifetime. 

Of  the  works  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  by  Woolner 
in  1872,  the  most  important  was  his  marble  statue  of  Sir 
Bartle  Frere,  the  distinguished  Governor  of  Bombay,  in 
which  city  it  was  erected  shortly  afterwards  in  his  honour. 
Woolner  had  had  sittings  from  Sir  Bartle  Frere  in  1868 
for  the  bust  shown  in  1869,  and  the  sculptor  had  always 
the  keenest  admiration  for  this  great  man,  and  their  friend- 
ship, begun  in  1868,  lasted  until  Sir  Bartle  Frere's  death. 

Shown  at  the  same  time  was  the  alto-relief  "  In  Memo- 
riam  G.  B.,"  which  represents  a  beautiful  boy  in  Paradise, 
seated  beneath  the  branches  of  a  jessamine  tree,  listening 
and  waiting  for  his  parents  to  join  him. 

At  the  Royal  Academy  was  seen,  besides  other  works, 
the  marble  bust  of  Charles  Dickens,  an  elaborate  piece  of 
carving — the  Sculptor  had  known  the  novelist  personally, 
and  their  mutual  friend  Mr.  Novelli  had  given  Woolner 
the  commission  to  make  a  bust  of  him ;  and  he  had  been 
looking  forward  with  pleasure  to  modelling  the  portrait 
u  289 


290  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

when  unhappily  Dickens's  death  prevented  a  bust  from  the 
Hfe  being  executed ;  and  Woolner  was  summoned  to  Gad's 
Hill  to  the  sad  task  of  taking  a  death  mask  of  the  author  in 
1870 — from  which  he  modelled  the  likeness. 

The  four  bas-reliefs  for  the  decoration  of  the  fountain 
in  memory  of  Mrs.  George  Moore,  representing  the  Four 
Acts  of  Mercy,  were  exhibited  also  this  year. 

T.  Woolner  to  F.  T.  Palgrave 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

August  11,  1872. 
Dear  Palgrave, 

....  I  met  Fechter  at  a  smoking  party  last  night 
and  was  interested  in  the  downright  honest  as  well  as 
keenly  true  opinions  he  expressed  about  sculpture.  He 
was  a  sculptor  for  some  years,  he  told  me,  and  was  sent  to 
Rome  for  getting  a  chief  prize  :  but  he  thought  Sculpture 
in  such  a  horrible  state,  and  so  wholly  in  the  world  of  job- 
bery that  he  could  not  live  such  an  unwholesome  and  pain- 
ful life ;  and  much  to  the  indignation  and  grief  of  his  father 
he  turned  actor  and  has  enjoyed  life  accordingly.  .  .  . 

Wishing  you  sunny  weather — all  other  good  following 
in  course. 

Ever  yours, 

T.  Woolner. 

Mrs.  Tennyson  to  T.  Woolner 

Aldworth, 

Black  Dovm, 
Haslemere, 

October  29,  1872. 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  see  your  hand- 
writing once  again,  and  I  must  write  without  delay  to  thank 
you  for  this  and  for  the  stately  "  Guinivere,"  and  to  tell 
you  how  very  sincerely  I  congratulate  you  on  the  acquisi- 
tion of  that  fairy  estate.^  Surely  such  a  place  in  such  a 
stream  and  such  names  for  itself  and  the  village,  can  come 
to  you  from  no  cloddish  son  of  earth.  A.  will  be  dreadfully 
jealous  of  the  stream.  I  must  look  in  the  map  and  see 
whether  you  are  within  our  ken.     Be  this  as  it  may,  I  wish 

^  Cranesden,  Mayfield. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  291 

you  both  and  all  the  greatest  possible  enjoyment  of  your 
new  possession  and  for  the  longest  possible  time. 

Our  dear  old  Hallam  having  leave  from  about  1  yester- 
day posted  off  here  to  see  me,  and  our  Lionel  had  also  had 
leave  from  Saturday  to  Monday,  but  the  brothers  missed 
seeing  each  other.  I  wish  that  you  could  see  them  and  we 
you  all.  A  strange  change  in  them  since  you  were  "  the 
sculptor  with  the  golden  beard."  I  am  so  very  glad  that 
you  like  the  Idyll. ^  It  seems  to  me  wonderfully  fresh  and 
young,  to  say  nothing  of  other  merits. 

With  my  love  to  Mrs.  Woolner, 
Believe  me  ever. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

Emily  Tennyson. 

This  was  a  little  estate,  Cranesden,  in  the  parish  of  May- 
field,  Sussex.  The  house  had  formerly  been  a  farm-house, 
and  it  is  said  John  Maynard,  Oliver  Cromwell's  chaplain, 
lived  there — parts  of  the  house  were  very  old  indeed,  but 
the  main  building  was  Elizabethan;  with  the  aid  of  his 
friend,  the  architect,  Frederick  Cockerell,  Woolner  added 
to  it  considerably,  and  altered  it  into  a  very  charming 
place  :  an  old  house  front  from  Shrewsbury  was  cleverly 
inserted  in  the  southern  wall,  which  was  entirely  in  keep- 
ing with  the  style  of  architecture.  Woolner  had  long 
wished  to  own  a  cottage  in  the  country,  and  he  laid  out 
the  grounds  with  great  taste,  and  whenever  he  could  snatch 
a  few  days'  holiday,  he  would  go  down  to  superintend  the 
earthworks,  pond  making  and  the  planting  of  trees  and 
shrubs.  The  house  stood  in  about  80  acres  of  pasture  and 
woodlands,  and  a  stream  ran  through  the  copses  rich  in 
wild  flowers.  In  the  garden  surrounded  by  sweetbriar, 
was  a  never-failing  spring  of  the  purest  water.  In  past 
ages  pilgrims,  it  is  said,  came  to  fill  their  bottles  from  it — 
probably  on  their  way  to  Canterbury  to  the  shrine  of 
Thomas  a  Becket. 

The  parish  church  is  dedicated  to  St.  Dunstan,  whose 
anvil  and  pincers  are  still  preserved  in  the  beautiful  Old 
Palace,  now  a  convent,  of  the  Order  of  the  Society  of  the 

1  "  Gareth  and  Lynette." 


292  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Holy  Child  Jesus.  A  happy  community  of  gracious  ladies 
— many  of  the  nuns  devote  a  great  part  of  their  lives  to 
education. 

Cranesden  was  a  house  of  old  brick,  and  lay  away  from 
the  village  of  Mayfield,  which  was  considered  by  the  poet 
Coventry  Patmore  "  the  prettiest  village  in  Sussex."  It 
was  most  picturesque,  more  than  500  feet  above  the  sea, 
with  the  distinctive  landmarks  of  the  church  spire  and  the 
tower  of  the  convent.  Since  those  days  the  railway  has 
caused  many  new  little  houses  to  spring  up,  and  the 
gas-lamps  in  the  village  rather  take  away  from  its  medi- 
aeval appearance  and  the  feeling  of  remoteness.  Woolner, 
tired  of  the  bothers  of  farm  and  land,  sold  Cranesden 
in  1882  to  Lord  Francis  Hervey ;  this  was  a  real  grief  to 
his  young  family,  whose  delight  in  the  pretty  place  was 
unbounded. 

T.  Woolner  to  Vernon  Lushington 

January  20,  1873. 

My  dear  Vernon, 

I  can  scarcely  tell  you  what  I  think  of  the  death  of 
your  Father.  You  know  he  was  always  to  me  an  especial 
admiration.  His  beautiful  countenance,  and  his  wisdom; 
his  lofty  nature  together  with  childlike  brightness;  and 
the  numberless  valuable  opinions  and  characteristic  anec- 
dotes that  were  his  daily  talk  together  made  him  so  de- 
lightful to  me,  that  had  I  been  one  of  his  own  sons  I  could 
scarcely  have  loved  and  honoured  him  more. 

His  life  has  altogether  been  so  beautiful  and  complete 
that  to  know  of  his  end  seems  to  me  as  it  were  the  triumph 
over  victory.  It  is  not  altogether  sorrow  I  feel ;  it  is  rather 
pride  that  so  perfect  a  life  has  become  unassailable  and 
is  one  of  our  guiding  stars.  This  is  something  of  what  I 
feel  when  thinking  of  him  :  but  how  different  when  I  think 
of  you  all.  I  most  deeply  feel  with  all  you  feel  :  and  that 
the  dear  sun  of  your  hospitable  house  has  set. 

It  was  a  sad  trial  to  my  wife  her  Father's  death ;  but  she 
has  been  very  brave. 

It  was  most  kind  of  you  to  write. 

With  truest  sympathy. 

Ever  yours, 

T.  Woolner. 


[Fhotograph  by  H.  Dixon. 


DOROTHY,    1883 


[To  face  page  292 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  293 


James  Anthony  Froude  to  T.  Woolner 

5,  Onslow  Gardens, 

May  5  [1874]. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

We  are  all  agreed  on  the  extreme  beauty  of  your 
sketch — and  if  the  execution  of  it  lies  within  my  means 
it  will  give  me  the  greatest  of  the  few  melancholy  pleasures 
now  left  to  me  if  I  can  see  that  monument  in  St.  Lawrence 
Church.  We  think  it  should  not  be  larger  than  half  size. 
I  think  myself  the  best  size  would  be  that  of  your  beautiful 
statuette ;   the  figure  ^  twisting  the  flower  into  her  hair. 

•  ••••• 

Ever  yours  most  truly, 

J.  A.  Froude. 

We  are  all  struck  with  the  likeness  which  you  contrived 
to  catch  even  in  a  figure  on  so  small  a  scale. 

Woolner  executed  the  monument  in  marble  of  Mrs. 
Froude.  W^hen  it  was  finished  in  1875  Mr.  Froude  wrote : 
"  I  have  nothing  to  suggest.  It  is  very  beautiful,  expressing 
the  most  perfect  feeling  in  the  most  perfect  way." 

John  Frederick  Lewis,  R.A.,  to  T.  Woolner 

Walton-on-Thames, 

May  4,  1874. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

111  as  I  am — hardly  able  to  hold  the  pen — I  lose 
not  a  second  in  replying  to  y"^  astounding  Letter. 

I  believe  you  to  be  the  soul  of  honour  or  in  my  former 
healthy  state  of  mind  &  body  I  should  have  thought 
you  were  jesting  with  my  supposed  Vanity — but  I  never 
was  vain — I  feel  now  &  have  felt  all  my  life  that  tho'  I  did 
my  best,  all  was  futile.  I  can  again  say  that  I  can  hardly 
credit  y^  assertion  that  such  sl  sum  would  have  been  offered 
(bonafide)  for  my  honest,  but  unpretending  work — your 
communication  has  upset  me  by  its  very  kindness — its 
generous,  its  disinterested  feeling  has  touched  my  very 
heart's  core.  Price  [the  owner]  is  a  good  man — he  paid 
me  my  price  for  the  picture — and  I  hope  he  is  satisfied, 
tho'  I  don't  know.  However,  he  has  behaved  nobly  by  not 
pocketting  his  thousands.  .  .  .  The  fact  is,  dear  Woolner, 

1  The  figure  of  "  Love." 


294  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

I  am  in  dreamland.     Forgive  more,  you  are  a  fine  noble 
fellow  &  God  bless  you. 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

J.  F.  Lewis. 1 
T.  WooLNER,  Esq.,  A.R.A. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  John  Frederick  Lewis,  R.A. 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

May  17,  1874. 

My  dear  Mr.  Lewis, 

Your  letter  was  sent  on  to  me  at  Paris,  and  greatly 
delighted  I  was  to  know  you  were  so  pleased  with  the 
appreciation  of  your  wonderful  picture.  You  do  not 
think  so  highly  of  your  own  work  as  your  admirers,  or  you 
would  not  be  surprized  at  any  amount  being  offered  for 
one  of  your  chief  pictures.  I  am  sure  Mr.  Graham's  offer 
was  bona  fide  as  he  asked  me  to  find  out  if  the  possessor 
would  take  the  sum  mentioned  as  he  was  willing  to  give  it. 
£10,000  is  a  large  sum,  but  not  much  to  a  man  worth 
£100,000  a  year,  who  wishes  to  gratify  a  keen  taste.  He 
told  me  he  had  refused  6000  guineas  for  Turner's  "  Van 
Goyen  in  search  of  a  subject,"  and  he  gave  7000  for  Gains- 
boro's  two  ladies  sold  at  Christie's  last  year,  so  that  you 
see  he  is  not  wedded  to  cash  where  taste  is  concerned. 
.  .  .  There  are  some  delightful  pictures  in  the  Loan  Coll: 
at  Paris,  both  old  and  modern.  .  .  .  There  are  the  choice 
works  from  private  houses  which  will  not  be  seen  again  by 
the  public.     Ingres'  best  works  are  there. 

Delaroche's  best — the  Murder  of  the  Duke  of  Guise — 
A  wonderful  portrait  of  a  young  man  by  Raphael.  Two 
fine  portraits  by  Antonio  More ;  superb  Dutch  landscapes, 
and  in  fact  to  have  an  idea  of  the  wealth  there  the  Ex. 
must  be  seen.     The  knic-knacs  are  superb  and  astonishing. 

But  I  will  not  tire  you  with  an  account  of  all  the  delight- 
ful things  I  saw.  It  was  particularly  pleasant  to  me,  for 
my  wife  had  never  been  on  the  Continent  before,  and  every- 
thing was  new  as  well  as  pleasant  to  her. 

Gerome  is  very  fine  in  the  Salon  this  year,  three  pictures 
are  equally  good — the  mass  there  of  course  being  fearful 

^  Many  years  after  the  Sculptor  bought  a  picture  by  J.  F.  Lewis,  R.A., 
of  the  "  Khan  Khalil  Bazaar,  Cairo,"  a  most  beautiful  work  of  great 
detail,  and  rich  in  colour  and  the  atmosphere  of  an  Eastern  bazaar.  The 
picture  was  sold  in  1895  at  Messrs.  Christie's. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  295 

rubbish.  .  .  .  The  drawing  of  which  so  much  is  said,  is 
mostly  weak,  and  inexact,  and  vulgar. 
With  kindest  wishes  for  your  health. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

T.  WOOLNER. 


In  June,  1874,  the  Hon.  Henry  (afterwards  Sir  Henry) 
Parkes,  Premier  of  New  South  Wales,  who  had  met 
Woolner  when  in  Sydney  in  1854,  wrote  to  ask,  if  he, 
Woolner,  would  undertake  to  do  a  statue  of  Captain  Cook 
for  Sydney.  The  idea  appealed  very  strongly  to  the 
Sculptor,  who  had  a  great  admiration  for  the  discoverer; 
and  having  himself  spent  many  months  in  Sydney  when 
a  young  man,  knew  the  position  the  proposed  statue  was 
to  occupy,  and  felt  the  keenest  inclination  to  undertake  the 
commission. 

The  following  letter  from  Thomas  Carlyle  is  the  first  of 
a  series  of  letters  about  this  commission,  and  from  that  time 
onwards  were  many  communications  to  and  from  the 
Government  at  Sydney. 

Thomas  Carlyle  to  T.  Woolner 

5,  Cheyne  Row,  Chelsea, 

June  10,  1874. 

Dear  W^oolner, 

The  enclosed  letter  came  to  me  this  morning  in  the 
inside  of  one  from  your  old  friend  Parkes — who  I  believe 
is  still  what  they  call  Premier  at  Sydney.  He  only  seems 
to  fear  you  may  not  be  able  to  undertake  the  Captain  Cook 
for  £2000 ;  in  which  sad  case  he  asks  me  to  "  advise  "  who 
should  be  next  applied  to.  I  think  it  would  be  an  excel- 
lent subject  &  well  worthy  of  you,  if  you  found  the  money 
offer  sufficient. 

In  any  case  please  communicate  with  Parkes  as  soon  as 
possible,  and  let  me  know  what  you  have  decided  on. 

It  is  a  long  time  since  I  have  seen  you  and  I  myself,  as 
is  natural,  go  out  less  and  less ;  but  I  hear  always  from  time 
to  time  that  everything  is  going  well  with  you  in  your  art 
&  otherwise.     Best  success  to  you,  now  and  ever. 

Yours  sincerely, 

T.  Carlyle. 


296  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Owing  to  the  height  of  the  pedestal  proposed,  the  statue 
had  to  be  much  larger  than  was  at  first  contemplated,  and 
a  larger  sum  of  money  required  in  consequence.  The 
lengthy  correspondence  in  connection  with  the  Cook  Statue 
for  two  years  would  interest  no  one  to  read.  The  Agent 
General  for  New  South  Wales  having  qualms  as  to  whether 
the  right  artist  for  this  work  had  been  chosen,  suggested 
a  competition  in  1876  !  after  Woolner  had  worked  for  many 
months  at  the  design. 

The  opinion,  on  this  proposition,  of  Sir  Francis  Grant, 
President  of  the  Royal  Academy,  is  expressed  in  his  letter 
to  Woolner  dated  February,  1876 — 

Sir  Francis  Grant,  P.R.A.,  to  T.  Woolner,  R.A. 

27,  Sussex  Place, 

Regent's  Park,  N,W., 

February  11  [1876]. 

My  dear  W^oolner, 

I  am  quite  conversant  with  the  correspondence 
which  has  taken  place  between  you  and  Mr.  Forster  on 
behalf  of  the  gentlemen  in  Australia  concerning  the  pro- 
posed statue — and  it  appears  to  me  after  that  corre- 
spondence to  propose  to  throw  the  matter  open  to 
competition  —  would  be  an  action  quite  unprecedented 
in  my  experience. 

It  would  be  quite  unusual  for  any  Sculptor  of  your 
eminence  &  acknowledged  position — to  enter  into  com- 
petition— under  any  circumstances.  But  after  all  that  has 
passed — &  the  trouble  you  have  already  bestowed  on  the 
subject — I  feel  quite  sure  on  further  consideration  and  on 
a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  the  case  they  will  not  place 
you  in  such  an  unpleasant  position. 

I  am  ever  yours  truly, 

Francis  Grant. 


Not  until  August  did  Woolner  receive  the  official  com- 
mission to  execute  a  colossal  Statue  of  13  ft.  for  Sydney — 
the  Statue  to  be  in  bronze.  The  Statue  was  finished  in 
1878,  and  was  shewn  to  the  public  of  London,  in  Waterloo 
Place. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  297 

William  Allingham  wrote  a  charming  poem  on  it.  (See 
June,  1878,  letter  to  Mrs.  Woolner.) 

The  Statue,  which  was  much  admired  in  London,  was 
shipped  to  Australia  in  August — and  the  unveiling  of  the 
Cook  Statue  in  February,  1879,  was  made  the  occasion  of 
a  great  public  holiday,  and  the  Sydney  Morning  Herald 
describes  "  the  ceremony  of  unveiling  the  Statue  as  the 
grandest  spectacle  which,  as  far  as  we  have  any  knowledge, 
has  yet  taken  place  in  Australia." 

The  Government  Offices  and  the  ships  in  harbour  were 
gaily  decorated  with  flags.  Hundreds  of  people  crowded 
into  Sydney  to  see  the  ceremony,  which  was  viewed  by  a 
crowd  of  over  seventy  thousand  persons.  A  grand  pro- 
cession of  sailors,  marines  and  societies  with  their  banners 
and  bands  having  assembled  around  the  Statue,  the 
Governor,  Sir  Hercules  Robinson,  arrived,  and  before  he 
made  his  speech  "  Rule,  Britannia  !  "  was  played  and  sung. 
Immediately  after  his  Excellency's  speech  was  concluded, 
he  commanded  the  Statue  to  be  unveiled,  "  and  the  men 
stationed  near  the  Statue  for  the  purpose  of  unveiling  it, 
pulled  the  cord  attached  to  the  flag  (which  enveloped  the 
Statue),  and  the  bunting,  unwinding  itself  from  the  figure 
on  the  pedestal,  ran  to  the  peak  of  a  flagstaff  and  left  the 
statue  exposed  to  the  view  of  the  people,  who  greeted  its 
appearance  with  loud  cheering.  At  the  same  moment  a 
merry  peal  rang  out  from  the  bells  of  St.  Mary's  Cathedral." 

The  singing  of  the  National  Anthem  ended  the  ceremonial 
part  of  the  day,  but  it  was  a  long  time  before  the  people 
would  leave  the  vicinity  of  the  Statue — and  hundreds  lin- 
gered on  to  examine  it. 

The  work  won  universal  admiration  in  Australia,  and  is 
the  largest  statue  Woolner  ever  designed  and  modelled. 

T.  Woolner  to  John  Frederick  Lewis,  R.x\. 

29,  Welheck  Street,  Tf ., 

September  1,  1874. 
My  dear  Mr.  Lewis, 

Your  generous  soul  will  rejoice  that  poor  Foley  will 
have  the  last  honour  due  to  him,  for  our  application  has 


298  THOMAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 

succeeded  and  he  is  to  be  buried  in  St.  Paul's  on  Friday 
next  at  12  o'clock.  He  will  lie  close  to  Turner,  Reynolds 
and  James  Barry,  with  only  one  grave  between  him  and 
this  noble  company.  The  sterling  artists  are  fast  passing 
away,  and  what  the  next  generation  will  be  like  I  tremble 
to  contemplate.     With  kindest  wishes  for  your  health. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

T.  WoOLNER. 


7 


[Photograph  by  Kent  and  Lacey. 
ALICE    GERTRUDE    WOOLNER,    1883 


[To  face  page  299. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

In  1874  Woolner  began  to  design  the  little  Bluecoat 
Group  for  Christ's  Hospital  as  a  kind  of  challenge  prize, 
the  Coleridge  Memorial,  to  be  held  each  year  by  that  Ward 
which  had  most  distinguished  itself  in  the  work  of  the 
School  during  the  previous  year. 

It  was  modelled  early  in  January  of  1875.  The  three 
boys  represent  Samuel  Coleridge,  Charles  Lamb  and  Middle- 
ton.  The  work  was  partly  a  labour  of  love  on  Woolner' s 
part,  for  the  sake  of  the  Reverend  George  C.  Bell,  head- 
master of  Christ's  Hospital  at  that  time,  and  afterwards 
head-master  of  Marlborough  College,  where  Woolner  sent 
his  sons  to  be  educated. 

About  this  time,  owing  to  distressing  family  reasons, 
which  do  not  concern  the  general  public,  a  complete  break 
between  Woolner  and  Holman  Hunt  took  place. 

John  Frederick  Lewis,  R.A.,  to  T.  Woolner 

Walton-on-Thames, 

November  21,  1874. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

It  causes  me  no  little  grief,  when  I  think  that  my 
unfortunate  position  precludes  my  putting  in  an  appear- 
ance at  the  R.A.  on  the  9*^  prox.,  but  now  I  am  almost 
deprived  of  locomotion  !  It  would  have  been  to  me  such 
a  satisfaction  if  I  could  have  added  my  vote  in  yr.  favor  : 
but  let  us  hope  that  you  will  not  need  it — and  that  a 
triumphant  majority  awaits  you — so  that  my  mite  may 
not  be  necessary.  .  .  . 

Hoping  you  are  well  &  with  my  respects  to  Mrs.  Woolner, 
believe  me, 

to  be  always  faithfully  yours, 

J.  F.  Lewis. 
T.  WooLNEB,  Esq.,  A.R.A. 

299 


300  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  John  Fredeeick  Lewis,  R.A. 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

November  22,  1874. 
My  dear  Mr.  Lewis, 

A  letter  from  you  conies  like  the  sun  thro'  this 
dingy  abomination  called  fog.  It  would  have  shocked  me 
had  I  known  such  an  idea  as  coming  here  this  weather  had 
even  entered  your  head  as  a  possibility. 

So  far  as  I  am  concerned  election  to  R.A. ship  is  a  point 
of  no  great  consequence,  as  I  care  nothing  for  fancy  titles, 
and  do  not  like  my  time  to  be  taken  up  by  council  meet- 
ings and  the  A. R.A. ship  suits  me  very  well  indeed,  as  I 
get  most  of  the  fun  and  only  a  little  of  the  work;  indeed 
none,  except  teaching  in  the  Life  School  which  I  like. 

But  whether  I  am  elected  or  whether  I  am  not,  I  would 
rather  have  had  your  kind  and  hearty  letter,  or  your  soli- 
tary vote,  than  nearly  the  whole  voting  of  the  Academy 
without  it,  or  with  yours  in  antagonism — .  .  .  I  was 
going  off  to  Venice  to-morrow,  but  the  friend  ^  with  whom 
I  travel  caught  a  sorethroat  and  now  I  have  to  wait  till  his 
Dr.  lets  him  off.  Except  a  fortnight  in  the  Spring  in  Paris 
with  my  wife  I  have  had  no  holiday  this  year  and  begin 
to  feel  stupid  from  constant  work  on  monstrous  big 
statues. 

I  gave  your  message  to  my  wife,  she  was  greatly  pleased 
and  told  me  whatever  I  said  in  return  to  "  imply  admira- 
tion,'* for  you  must  know  that  she  is  as  great  an  enthusiast 
for  your  work  as  I  am  myself. 

Hoping  for  you  all  good. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

T.  WoOLNER. 


In  November  M.  Alphonse  Legros  painted  a  portrait  in 
oils  of  Woolner  just  before  the  Sculptor  went  on  a  tour  on 
the  Continent  with  his  friend  Dilberoglue.  They  visited 
Paris,  Milan,  Verona,  whose  beauties  and  treasures  he  fully 
enjoyed,  Padua,  where,  he  writes,  the  frescoes  by  Giotto  in 
the  Arena  Chapel  "  I  thought  not  only  worthy  of  their 
fame,  but  less  Archaic  than  I  fancied  from  copies  and 

^  Stauros  Dilberoglue,  a  very  delightful  Greek  friend,  who  was  intimate 
with  many  of  Woolner's  circle.  He  was  godfather  to  two  of  the  Sculptor's 
children. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  301 

engravings.  Among  all  the  subjects  and  groups  that  I 
examined  I  did  not  find  a  single  figure  that  went  not 
straight  to  the  purpose  and  intention  of  the  work.  I  did 
not  see  an  instance  of  straining  for  effect  or  of  exaggeration 
of  any  kind.  And  in  no  case  was  a  figure  placed  merely 
to  fill  up  the  composition.  The  chief  figures  are  always 
placed  to  give  the  utmost  importance  without  giving  the 
impression  of  its  having  been  done  so  :  in  fact  I  scarcely 
know  if  in  the  higher  qualities  of  art  the  skill  is  not  fully 
equal  to  [the]  genius  displayed  throughout  this  wonderful 
series.  The  whole  effect  of  the  Chapel  is  luminous,  refined 
and  beatific,  and  is  I  should  think  the  loveliest  vision  of 
the  divine  life  on  earth  that  was  ever  presented  to  the 
Mediaeval  mind. 

"  In  the  Church  of  San  Antonio,  by  the  high  altar  stands 
a  large  Candelabrum  by  Andrea  Riccio,  which  the  guide- 
book says  took  the  artist  10  years  to  make.  It  is  the  most 
sumptuous  specimen  of  this  class  I  have  ever  seen.  The 
whole  surface  is  covered  with  work  of  the  richest  kind, 
and  balanced  throughout  with  the  nicest  care,  and  wrought 
with  unerring  skill.  But  the  quantity  of  material  of  art 
is  so  enormous,  that  no  one  can  fully  comprehend  it  as  a 
whole ;  and  it  gives  the  impression  as  if  a  vast  amount  of 
thought  and  work  were  thrown  away.  How  differently 
an  old  Greek  artist  would  have  designed  a  stand  to  hold 
lights  !  A  firm  exquisitely  designed  base — a  slender  elegant 
stem,  running  up  to  branch  forth  into  simple  perfect  utility ; 
— and  whatever  figures  or  ornament  were  introduced  pure 
and  graceful  as  the  buds  of  a  white  lily." 

In  Venice  Woolner  visited  the  important  churches  and 
saw  all  the  notable  paintings,  the  Saint  Barbara  of  Palma 
Vecchio  winning  almost  his  greatest  admiration,  he  calls 
it  "  this  loveliest  among  the  beauties  of  Venice."  While 
there  one  evening  twenty  gondoliers  sang  under  the  window 
of  the  hotel  where  he  was  staying — one  lady  gave  them  a 
halfpenny  ! 

On  his  return  journey  he  went  to  all  the  art  galleries  of 
Munich — a  note  in  his  diary  there  states  :  "  saw  three  girls 
fight  like — dogs  say  !  "     During  his  absence  from  England 


302  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

he  had  been  elected  a  Royal  Academician,  and  he  found 
many  letters  of  congratulation  awaiting  him  on  arriving 
home. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  John  Frederick  Lewis,  R.A. 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

January  17,  1875. 

My  dear  Mr.  Lewis, 

It  is  all  very  well  to  say  "  do  not  answer  this,"  but 
I  have  too  good  a  sense  of  my  privileges  to  obey  such  an 
injunction.  In  the  "  Apocrypha  "  I  remember  reading  in 
the  days  of  my  youth,  "  If  thou  knowest  a  wise  man  let 
thy  feet  wear  his  doorstep,"  but  as  I  cannot  do  this  I  may 
help  to  wear  out  his  door  knocker. 

Since  my  return  from  Venice  my  time  has  been  wholly 
taken  up  or  I  should  have  thanked  you  before  for  your 
most  kind  and  cordial  letter  as  to  my  election.  I  have 
as  I  said  always  had  a  shrinking  from  honours  and  com- 
mittees, but  now  I  am  in  the  charmed  circle,  however  I 
may  have  got  there,  I  must  say  that  it  is  most  gratifying 
to  find  the  hearty  and  friendly  way  in  which  I  have  been 
welcomed  by  the  Members,  indeed  they  could  not  have 
more  clearly  shown  their  satisfaction ;  with,  of  course,  the 
exception  of  the  sculptors  who  looked  sourly  as  usual  tho' 
to  them  I  am  always  as  amiable  as  one  being  can  be  to 
another  in  ordinary  life.  .  .  . 

Ever  most  truly  yours, 

T.  WoOLNER. 


John  Frederick  Lewis,  R.A.,  to  T.  Woolner 

Walton-on-Thames, 

January  28,  1875. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  have  been  ill  enough  of  late  to  render  me  quite 
incapable  of  writing — or  I  should  have  done  so.  I  am 
puzzled  to  know  whom  you  allude  to  as  "  the  wise  man." 
I  doubt  not  that  yr.  "  Apocryphal  "  friend  is  quite  right — 
but  where  wisdom  is  to  be  found  is  another  "  guess  sort  of 
thing." 

If  I  could  pretend  to  wisdom,  then  shouldst  thou  wear 
out  my  doorstep,  but  alas  !  don't  seek  for  it  here  when 
you  pass  it,  but  be  content  &  when  you  feel  inclined  to  ven- 
ture this  way,  a  hearty  welcome  awaits  you.  I  live  here 
like  a  Hermit     awaiting  my  exit — with  the  dearest  wife 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  303 

in  the  world — disposed  most  charitably  to  all,  &  charmed 
to  see  my  friends  always.  .  .  .  Chantrey's  £90,000  has 
just  fallen  to  us.  May  God  guide  the  men  who  will  spend 
this  money.  Will  they  buy  "  Roll  Calls"?.  ...  I  don't 
see  much  probability  of  my  ever  getting  about  again. 
I  am  nearly  71 — so  can't  hope  for  much.  That  Blessed 
King  David  and  3  Score  years  &  10  is  a  bore — but  I  am 
thank  God  very  happy.  My  respects  &  kind  regards  to 
Mrs.  Woolner  if  she  will  deign  to  accept  them.  The  same 
to  you. 

Sincerely  yours, 

J.  F.  Lewis. 
Why  "Mister"  me? 

T.  Woolner  to  John  Frederick  Lewis,  R.A. 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

January  31,  1875. 

My  dear  Lewis, 

If  you  refuse  being  M^'ed;  I  was  much  delighted 
with  your  kind  letter  and  the  hope  it  offered  me  of  a  pleasant 
glimpse  of  your  happy  life. 

•  ••••• 

I  do  not  know  what  the  authorities  will  do  with  Chan- 
trey's gains,  but  I  know  that  the  Prince  may  praise  and 
the  papers  may  trumpet,  but  the  Academy  will  not  purchase 
"  the  Roll  Call." 

I  hate  the  thought  of  3  score  years  and  10  for  some  per- 
sons. ...  It  is  to  me  sad  to  think  that  now  your  genius 
has  reached  its  highest  glory  you  should  be  able  to  do  less 
work  than  ever,  and  be  tantalized  with  unsatisfied  aspira- 
tions and  unrealized  visions  of  beauty.  ...  I  shall  not 
wait  for  fine  weather  as  that  may  be  in  the  remote  future, 
but,  as  you  give  permission,  I  shall  run  down  to  see  you  the 
first  clear  chance  I  can  see.  .  .  . 

Most  truly  yours, 

T.  Woolner. 

James  Anthony  Froude  to  T.  Woolner 

5,  Onslow  Gardens, 

April  1  [1875]. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  looked  over  the  walls  of  St.  Lawrence  Church — we 
can  have  a  choice  of  situation  and  at  present  there  is  every 
variety  of  light.  .  .  .  The  position  which  I  should  prefer 


304  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

.  .  .  adjoins  a  window  lately  erected  to  the  memory  of 
my  wife's  father. 

Ever  faithfully  yours, 

J.  A.  Froude. 

I  have  thought  much  of  your  Reredos.  The  robe  blow- 
ing out  is  new  &  very  fine.  But  if  I  were  you  I  would 
invite  opinion  about  the  Vulture. ^  I  distrust  my  own 
judgment  too  much  to  venture  to  give  it  you — but  I  am 
sure  the  approbation  will  not  be  unanimous. 

Woolner  executed  a  posthumous  bust  of  Charles  Kings- 
ley,  which  was  placed  in  Westminster  Abbey  in  1876.  In 
1875  Mrs.  Kingsley  wrote  to  the  Sculptor  :  "  My  daughters 
tell  me  your  bust  is  simply  magnificent,  all  they  could  desire, 
and  my  heart  bows  down  to  you  in  gratitude.  How  he 
loved  &  delighted  in  your  genius  !  &  hoped  that  the  West- 
minster residence  might  bring  him  in  contact  with  you  for 
years  to  come  !  " 

Mrs.  Kingsley  was  an  invalid  and  never  expected  to  see 
the  marble  bust.  She  had  had  a  photograph  of  the  bust  sent 
her,  and  in  a  letter  dated  March  12,  1876,  she  writes — 

''  I  thank  you  deeply,  but  only  in  my  heart — words  fail 
me.  What  a  great  artist  you  are.  To  me  sculpture  was 
always  so  much  greater  than  painting,  &  if  I  had  not  always 
held  this  belief  I  sh^  now  be  convinced.  If  the  photograph 
can  be  what  it  is — what  must  the  marble  be  ?  But  that  I 
shall  never  see."   .  .  . 

Woolner  however  decided  she  should  have  that  pleasure, 
and  went  to  the  great  risk  of  sending  the  marble  bust  down 
by  rail  to  Byfleet  for  Mrs.  Kingsley  to  see. 

This  kindly  act  was  greatly  appreciated  by  her.  She 
expresses  her  admiration  of  the  bust  in  a  letter  dated 
March  22,  1876— 

My  dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

It  is  wonderful.  Especially  the  right  side  where  there 
is  the  twinkle  of  humour  about  the  lip,  without  which  the 
grandeur  even  w^  have  been  imperfect.  I  cannot  thank 
you.     Words  fail  me. 

^  Apropos  of  this  point  Canon  Liddon  approved  and  said  it  was  the  only 
original  idea  on  the  subject  for  many  years.  The  reredos  represents  the 
"  Crucifixion." 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  305 

Mrs.  Kingsley  admired  the  bust  so  much  she  asked  the 
Sculptor's  permission  to  have  it  engraved  to  illustrate  one 
of  the  volumes  of  the  Life  of  her  husband. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Mrs.  Lewis 

29,  Welbeck  Street, 

March  27,  1876. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Lewis, 

We  were  grieved  to  have  your  bad  news  of  your 
glorious  veteran ;  and  the  weather  so  abominable  that  I 
scarcely  expect  to  have  a  better  yet  awhile.  .  .  .  You  saw 
that  my  wife  has  returned,  and  the  house  has  received  its 
soul  again.  How  she  longs  for  cheery  news,  and  to  see 
you  both  again.  Her  day  at  your  house  is  a  memory 
steeped  in  romance,  for  your  artist  is  her  ideal  of  a  splendid 
painter;  and  I  am  vain  enough  to  think  praise  from  her 
of  value,  as  she  gives  it  rarely.  .  .  . 

I  have  been  too  busy  to  write  before.     My  love  to  him. 

Ever  yours, 

T.  WoOLNER. 

Thanks  for  your  kind  letter. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  F.  T.  Palgrave 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

April  26,  1876. 
Dear  Palgrave, 

You  will  see  by  the  enclosed  that  I  have  got  you 
many  lots,^  all  good,  and  most  of  them  cheap.  .  .   . 

They  are  so  lovely  that  they  must  wait  awhile  before  1 
can  tear  my  heart  to  part  from  them.  I  got  a  few  bargains. 
To  my  mind  the  most  valuable  of  all  the  lots  was  94 — Por- 
trait of  Flaxman  by  himself:  an  inimitable  chalk  drawing 
highly  finished,  and  certainly  the  best  portrait  of  him  in 
the  world.  I  gave  .  .  .  guineas,  but  would  not  take  10 
times  that  sum  for  it.     It  is  life  size.  .  .  . 

Nearly  12  at  night  tired,  and  anxious  for  a  smoke  and 
read  before  going  to  bed. 

Ever  yours, 

T.  WoOLNER. 

In  1876  Woolner  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  the 

marble  bearded  bust  of  Tennyson,  which  he  had  modelled 

in  1873.    It  is  the  greatest  bust  of  the  Sculptor,  a  majestic 

^  Flaxman  drawings. 
X 


306  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

and  idealistic  representation  of  the  Poet  Laureate.  The 
bust  was  purchased  after  the  Sculptor's  death,  for  the 
National  Art  Gallery  at  Adelaide,  and  was  unveiled  by 
King  George  V,  when  Duke  of  Cornwall  and  York,  on 
his  world's  tour  in  1901. 

Australia  owns  Woolner's  finest  marble  bust  and  his 
greatest  bronze  statue — ^that  of  Captain  Cook  at  Sydney. 

Many  people  wrote  to  the  Sculptor  after  the  portrait- 
bust  or  medallion  had  been  received  home,  to  express  their 
pleasure  and  increasing  pleasure  in  it,  and  that  the  more 
they  became  acquainted  with  his  work  and  the  longer  they 
lived  with  it  the  more  they  rejoiced  in  its  possession;  as 
an  instance  Mrs.  Tyndall  wrote  in  January,  1877  :  "  I  can- 
not tell  you  what  delight  the  medallion  gives  me;  I  feel 
more  pleasure  in  it  every  day,  and  my  gratitude  to  you  for 
all  the  care  and  labour  you  have  bestowed  upon  it  grows 
proportionately.     Pray  accept  my  most  heartfelt  thanks." 

So,  in  judging  of  the  permanent  delight  a  portrait  gives 
and  of  its  real  excellence  one  must  live  with  it  for  some 
time,  when  if  it  truly  reveals  the  person  represented,  each 
day  it  becomes  more  admirable  and  more  satisfying.  That 
is  why,  as  a  rule,  photographic  portraits  fail  so  often  to 
please  for  any  length  of  time — the  reason  probably  being 
partly  that  they  are  taken  in  an  instant,  and  that  instant 
naturally  only  gives  a  passing  expression  or  phase ;  whereas 
a  serious  artist  studying  a  face  before  him  for  many  days 
and  for  many  hours  at  a  time  is  enabled,  if  he  tries,  to 
represent  the  real  personality  of  the  sitter. 

And  if  with  insight  goes  skill  of  execution,  one  has  a 
perfect  portrait. 

Among  the  distinguished  men  who  sat  this  year  for  their 
portraits  were  Sir  John  Simon,  and  Professor  Huxley,  who 
gave  Woolner  sittings  for  the  bust  he  modelled  in  June 
of  1877. 

In  1877  Woolner  was  elected  Professor  of  Sculpture  at 
the  Royal  Academy — he  resigned  the  position  in  1879, 
never  having  given  any  lectures.  He  used  to  say  he  was 
the  best  professor  there  ever  was,  for  he  only  professed 
and  never  practised  !  He  wrote  out  two  or  three  lectures 
which  were  never  delivered,  but  he  could  not  give  the  time 
to  finish  the  series  and  compose  the  required  number.     Of 


THE    WATER    LILY,     1884 


[To  face  page  306. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  307 

the  lectures  he  did  write,  one  is  called  "  Introduction," 
one  is  on  "  Conception  "  and  one  on  "  Finishing  " ;  they 
were  technical  lectures  suitable  for  students,  it  is  to  be 
regretted  they  were  never  given.  Woolner  taught  in  the 
Academy  Schools;  his  visits  were  much  appreciated  by 
the  students — and  he  enjoyed  teaching  them. 

Woolner' s  half-lifesized  statuette  of  Godiva  was  exhi- 
bited at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1878.  Mr.  F.  G.  Stephens, 
the  art  critic,  writes  of  it  as  "  the  stately  and  beautiful 
statue  in  marble  of  Godiva  disrobing,  letting  the  last 
white  garment  of  her  sacrifice  glide  downwards  to  her 
feet,"  and  describes  her  as  so  "  gravely  passionate  and 
intensely  pure — she  thinks  less  of  her  nakedness  than  of 
her  reward."  Her  face  has  that  far-away  look  of  uncon- 
sciousness which  the  face  of  such  a  woman  bent  on  so  great 
a  deed  of  self-forgetfulness,  would  have. 

William  Allingham  to  T.  Woolner 

18,  Neville  Street, 

Onslow  Gardens,  S.  W., 

March  6,  1878. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  am  much  gratified  by  your  gift.  Photography  does 
specially  well  for  bas-reliefs.^  There  is  no  modern  sculpture 
work  to  compare  with  these,  if  I  had  to  choose  I  should 
perhaps  name  "  Achilles  shouting  "  as  my  first  favourite. 

Always  very  truly  yours, 

W.  Allingham. 

William  Allingham  to  Mrs.  Woolner 

Shere,  Surrey, 

June  25,  1878. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Woolner, 

Your  letter  this  morning  interested  me  so  much 
that  first  I  grunted  to  think  that  Fraser  was  just  printed 
for  July,  next  I  felt  inspired  (?)  to  write  some  lines  and 
send  them  to  the  Athenceum  journal.  I  did  write  some 
and  why  I  send  them  now  to  you  is  to  ask  if  they  will  do 
the  work  of  art  discredit,  by  blundering  or  otherwise.  Tell 
me  frankly  how  they  strike  you,  and  is  there  an  "  out- 
stretched hand  "  ?  (I  forget  and  have  nothing  to  refer  to.) 
Also,  is  the  word  "  mountain  "  at  all  allowable  for  the  site, 

^  The  three  bas-reliefs  around  the  Gladstone  Bust  at  the   Bodleian, 
Oxford. 


308  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

say  by  a  stretch?    I  don't  like  "  headland  "  and  "  sea  and 
land."     And  is  it  near  Sydney? 

If  you  think  it  will  do  please  send  it  at  once  to  post  in 
the  enclosed  cover  for  both  subject  and  artist  have  my  full 
sympathy. 

We  have  taken  on  our  Cottage  here  till  Sept.  1.     Will 
you  both  come  down  to  see  us  some  Sunday  ? 
In  haste,  always  yours  truly, 

W.  Allingham. 


A  STATUE  FOR  SYDNEY,   NEW  SOUTH  WALES 

Cook,  mariner  of  Whitby,  gave  the  chart 

Another  England  in  the  great  South  Sea. 

Lo,  re-embodied  now  by  Woolner's  art, 

The  bold  and  honest  Spirit  !  who  once  more 

Will  voyage  to  that  Australasian  shore, 

The  fog-bank  show'd  him,  lifted  suddenly  : 

Bearing  a  message,  without  tongue  or  pen. 

As  brief,  as  full,  as  English  words  could  say. 

There  on  his  breezy  column  will  he  stand. 

The  bloodless  conqueror,  viewing  sea  and  land. 

An  English  city,  in  whose  deep  blue  night 

For  Charles's  Wain  the  Southern  Cross  hangs  bright. 

Ships  from  old  England  gliding  up  the  bay, 

And  signify  with  that  uplifted  hand, 
(The  gesture  once  of  joy— astonished  heart,) 

"  Greeting  to  all  my  Brother  Englishmen  !  " 

W.  Allingham. 


June,  1878. 


(Printed  by  kind  permission  of  Mrs,  Allingham.) 


William  Allingham  to  T.  Woolner 

Shere,  Surrey, 

August  10,  1878. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

Best  thanks  for  the  letter  to  the  Lion  of  Redhill, 
delivery  delayed  by  Whooping  cough,  caught  from  my 
children,  a  tedious  thing  but  which  I  hope  to  get  rid  of 
before  all  the  corn  is  cut.  Congratulations  on  your  cottage 
and  your  love  of  cottage  life.     Live  and  prosper  ! 

Yours  always, 

W.  Allingham. 

I  put  the  Cook  lines  (full  number)  into  last  Fraser, 
I  have  seen  the  statue  with  admiration. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Mr.  W.  Aldis  Wright,  the  Cambridge  scholar  and  the 
authority  on  Shakespeare,  stayed  with  Woolner  and  his 
family  at  Cranesden  in  October,  1880 — and  while  there 
he  told  the  following  anecdote  among  many  others. 

A  literary  young  lady  wished  to  write  an  epic  poem  on 
"  The  Fall  of  Man  "  and  began  thus— 

"Man  was  made  perfect,  and  he — " 

but  could  get  no  further,  and  left  her  writing  lying  on  the 
table.     A  young  wag  coming  in  finished  it  off  with — 

"  Would  have  remained  so,  but  She  !  " 

In  the  beginning  of  the  winter  Woolner  began  to  write  his 
poem  of  "  Pygmalion,"  which  when  completed  his  friend 
Aldis  Wright  criticised  for  him. 

T.  Woolner,  R.A.,  to  Vernon  Lushington 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

February  27,  1879. 

My  dear  Vernon, 

Pray  do  not  mention  trouble.  The  young  lady 
being  a  daughter  of  an  English  officer  is  enough  and  to 
spare,  beside  the  fact  of  your  being  interested  in  her.  Mrs. 
Wood  has  been  singularly  misinformed  to  think  the  Council 
of  the  R.A.  regards  the  tenderness  of  youth  or  the  totter- 
ings  of  age.  The  truth  being  that  they  know  nothing 
whatever  of  either  beyond  what  the  work  itself  says.  I 
sat  on  the  Council  for  two  years  and  saw  Fathers,  Brothers, 
Friends  sit  like  imitations  of  Rhadamanthus  while  sons, 
daughters,  brothers  and  dearest  friends'  works  were  re- 
morselessly rejected.  These  worthies  may  be  wrong  in 
their  judgments,  but  I  think  no  body  can  mean  to  be  more 
just  than  they  are  in  the  selection  of  works  for  Ex. 

309 


310  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

If  Mrs.  Wood  sends  a  letter  containing  title  of  Picture, 
Name  &  address  of  Artist  and  price,  I  can  send  it  on  to  the 
R.A.  .  . 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

W.  Aldis  Wright  to  T.  Woolner 

Chapter  Library, 

Westminster,  8.  W., 

May  18,  1881. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

Your  letter  has  found  me  here  working  through  the 
second  week  of  revision  with  a  cold  caught  in  the  service. 
I  feel  inclined  to  envy  you  in  the  quiet  of  Cranesden,  but 
the  term  is  so  short  that  after  this  work  is  over  I  must  stick 
to  Cambridge  till  the  end. 

When  "  Pygmalion  "  comes  I  will  do  my  best  to  leave 
no  joint  in  your  armour  for  the  critical  gnats  to  get  in  their 
stings. 

Yours  ever, 

W.  Aldis  Wright. 

Cardinal  Newman  to  T.  Woolner 

Birmingham, 

December  21,  1881. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

Your  very  kind  present  ^  came  to  me  yesterday.  I 
began  to  read  it  directly  with  much  interest.  I  doubt  not 
that  the  more  I  read  the  more  I  shall  be  struck  with  its 
poetic  beauty.  It  is  indeed  very  beautiful,  though  not  so 
severe  perhaps  as  would  suit  the  taste  of  the  old  classics. 
Thank  you  very  much  and  believe  me  to  be 

Most  truly  yours 

John  H.  Card.  Newman. 

T.  Woolner  to  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone 

Garrick  Club, 

December  20,  1881. 
Dear  Mr.  Gladstone, 

Mr.  Frith  told  me  a  few  days  back,  that  you  men- 
tioned my  poem  of  "  My  Beautiful  Lady  "  to  him,  but  that 
you  had  not  heard  of  another  of  mine  just  published.     I 

^  The  poem  of  '*  Pygmalion." 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  311 

have  asked  Messrs.  Macmillan  to  send  you  a  copy  if  you 
will  kindly  accept  it.  I  thought  you  would  before  now 
have  forgotten  the  existence  of  my  former  poem  or  should 
have  sent  this  before. 

The  subject,  "  Pygmalion,"  has  not  been  understood  as 
an  artist  understands  it,  and  I  hope  I  have  succeeded  in 
making  the  story  intelligible. 

Please  do  not  reply  for  you  must  be  overwhelmed  with 
letters  that  must  have  a  reply. 

Believe  me, 

Very  truly  yours, 

Thos.  Woolner. 

Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  T.  Woolner 

Hawarden  Castle, 
Chester, 

December  22,  1881. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  am  extremely  obliged  to  Mr.  Frith  if  as  you  say 
he  made  the  suggestion  which  has  procured  for  me  an  early 
sight  of  your  (to  my  mind)  very  beautiful  Poem,^  which 
I  am  reading  with  much  enjoyment. 

It  shows  how  close  you  sit  to  the  centre  of  your  art,  and 
how  you  have  drunk  in  its  soul. 

This  making  of  Hebe  is  full  of  interest  for  me  :  as  I 
believe  myself  to  have  done  one  and  only  one  good  thing 
in  my  life  for  Art,  i.e.  to  have  been  the  first  to  teach  and 
preach  that  the  secret  of  excellence  in  the  Art  of  Greece, 
lay  in  the  anthropomorphism,  or,  as  I  commonly  call  it, 
theanthropism,  of  the  Olympian  religion. 

Do  I  understand  you  to  have  the  City  Commission  for  a 
bust  of  me  ?  If  so,  I  shall  be  sincerely  glad,  and  ready  to 
hear  from  you  at  any  time  about  your  preparations  & 
plans. 

Always  faithfully  yours, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

T.  Woolner  to  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

December  26,  1881. 
Dear  Mr.  Gladstone, 

It  pleases  me  to  know  how  aptly  my  translation 
of   the    maid   lanthe   into    the    Goddess    Hebe   helps    to 


1  « 


Pygmalion." 


312  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

illustrate  your  doctrine  of  the  human  nature  in  the  great 
Olympian  Gods.  I  think,  if  I  may  venture  to  say  so,  that 
you  are  not  fair  towards  yourself  in  thinking  this  the  only 
good  you  have  done  for  art.  I  speak  from  impression 
and  not  distinctly  from  memory  but  I  think  you  were  the 
first  person  in  power  to  recognize  the  importance  of  our 
Water  Colour  School.  Water  Colour  Drawing  is  one  of  the 
most  perfect  arts  of  the  world  and  in  its  highest  develop- 
ment belongs  exclusively  to  us,  and  when  you  honoured 
Sir  J.  Gilbert  as  President  of  the  Chief  Institution,  you 
gave  that  public  sanction  which  placed  it  level  with  the 
other  great  arts.  Your  letter  was  a  great  gratification  to 
me;  and  I  have  received  similar  ones  in  the  kindliness  of 
their  expression  from  the  Master  of  Trinity,  Cambridge, 
Mr.  Munro,  the  Editor  of  "  Lucretius,"  and  from  Cardinal 
Newman,  so  that  I  am  tempted  to  the  belief  I  have  not 
wholly  wasted  my  time  in  writing  Pygmalion's  story. 
I  have  the  commission  to  do  your  bust,  for  Guildhall 
whenever  you  can  give  me  the  sittings  and  will  begin 
whenever  it  will  suit  your  convenience.  I  was  half  engaged 
to  go  to  Athens  this  winter,  but  put  it  off  chiefly  on  account 
of  doing  this  Bust;  and  considered  it  too  important  a 
matter  to  trifle  with. 

Believe  me, 

Very  truly  yours, 

Thos  :  WoOLNER. 

[April  22,  1882.]  Woolner  was  invited  by  the  committee 
of  the  Urban  Club,  a  literary  Club  which  numbered  many 
members,  to  give  them  a  speech  on  Shakespeare  on  their 
annual  Shakespeare  Night  and  after  much  consideration  he 
consented.  Having  touched  on  his  doubt  of  being  able  to 
interest  them  he  began  his  speech  by  referring  to  the  criti- 
cisms of  the  learned  which  attacked  Shakespeare  for 
borrowing  many  of  the  wise  axioms  of  the  great  Classic 
writers,  and  then  continued  : — 

"  Can  it  in  any  way  modify  or  diminish  the  propor- 
tions of  greatness  that  greatness  uses  an  inheritance  com- 
mon to  the  human  race?  The  wisdom  handed  down  to 
us  by  our  forefathers;  as  they  have  handed  down  to  us 
knowledge  of  how  to  grow,  grind  and  bake  corn  for  our 
food ;  the  use  of  the  loom  for  our  textures ;  the  handling 


SIR    STAMFORD    RAFFLES 

Colossal  statue  for  Singapore,  1887. 


[7V>  face  page  313. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  313 

of  arms  for  our  defence.  We  all  know,  gentlemen,  it  is  not 
the  material,  but  use  of  the  material,  that  marks  the  differ- 
ence. There  shall  be  two  men,  one  a  dauber,  and  the  other 
a  gifted  artist.  They  shall  both  buy  their  canvasses,  their 
brushes,  their  pigments  of  the  same  colourman.  With 
materials  absolutely  similar,  the  one  by  his  utmost  efforts 
shall  produce  a  result  most  distressing  to  behold,  whereas 
the  other  transforms  his  colours  into  lures  that  catch 
sunbeams;  these  by  magic  he  fixes  in  lovely  shapes  upon 
his  canvass ;  concentrates  them  to  a  glory  whose  radiance 
shall  illumine  a  remote  posterity.  .  .  . 

"  In  the  genius  of  our  mighty  one  (Shakespeare)  imagina- 
tion rose  to  its  zenith  and  sheds  its  glory  on  us  all.  .  .  . 
Many  years  ago  I  was  elected  into  a  literary  club  similar  to 
yours,  gentlemen,  but  on  a  smaller  scale.  It  was  founded 
by  Charles  Dickens,  Douglas  Jerrold,  Jessel,  Hawkins, 
Serjeant  Parry  and  others,  most  of  them  gone  into  the 
mystic  past,  or  have  become  so  famous  they  can  spare  no 
time  now  for  the  little  Club.  Being  indulgent  and  compli- 
mentary to  a  new  member  the  committee  asked  me  to  take 
the  chair  on  their  next  Shakespeare  Night ;  but  Chairman- 
ship being  as  far  from  my  habits  as  making  watches  or  silk 
stockings  I  reluctantly  declined.  Some  weeks  after  this, 
enjoying  myself  with  the  other  members  after  dinner,  with 
no  preliminaries,  although  I  had  refused,  with  a  splendid 
audacity  characteristic  of  him  up  rose  Mr.  Hepworth  Dixon 
and  proposed  I  should  take  the  chair  at  the  next 
Shakespeare  Dinner.  This  was  seconded  and  carried 
with  such  cordial  unanimity  that  I  had  not  the  heart  to 
refuse. 

"  Well,  said  I,  but  what  am  I  to  say  of  Shakespeare  ?  To 
talk  of  him  is  like  talking  of  nature  in  general ;  how  is  one 
to  begin  ?  '  Give  us  a  discourse  on  the  illustrations  of 
Shakespeare.'   .  .  . 

"  I  thought  the  subject  over  and  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  most  significant  illustration  of  a  man's  works  and 
a  man's  life  was  in  a  man's  own  countenance ;  where  every 
passion,  every  thought,  every  act,  and  every  impulse  to 
act  or  refrain  was  written  in  unerring  lines  and  touches  on 


314  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

an  infallible  index.  We  may  err  in  the  reading,  but  the 
soul  never  errs  in  the  writing.  It  is  a  hard  book  to  read ; 
and  if  scanned  too  closely  adds  not  to  our  comfort.  It 
was  because  he  knew  one,  .  .  .  made  Shelley  pen  the 
famous  sonnet — 

'  Lift  not  the  painted  veil  which  those  who  live 
Call  Life.     Tho'  unreal  shapes  be  painted  there 
And  it  but  mimic  all  we  would  believe 
In  colours  idly  spread.' 

"Thomas  Carlyle  had  told  me  that  Sir  F.  Chantrey 
expressed  an  opinion  the  Stratford  Bust  was  taken  from 
a  cast  after  death ;  but  as  he  gave  no  proofs  in  support  of 
his  belief  I  was  no  wiser,  and  felt  a  great  desire  to  examine 
the  work  myself.  I  had  long  wished  to  see  the  Stratford 
country,  and  went  with  a  literary  friend.  We  wanted  to 
see  where  our  poet  had  first  seen  the  light  and  where  it 
last  closed  from  him.  The  streams  and  the  woodlands, 
the  green  fields  and  hedgerows ;  the  pleasant  spaces  by  the 
river  where  he  gathered  those  flowers  he  took  with  him  to 
refresh  and  delight  old  London  so  many  generations  past. 
Flowers  that  have  not  dried,  or  become  faded.  Flowers 
that  cease  not  breathing  their  ethereal  sweetness  whose 
cups  are  yet  filled  with  immortal  light  ! 

"We  know  in  simple  description  of  nature,  our  poet  to 
be  unapproachable,  but  I  think  the  fullness  of  his  love  for 
country  scenes  is  more  indicated  in  touches  that  illustrate 
some  purpose  in  the  great  structure  of  the  drama;  as 
for  instance  when  Henry  IV  reprimanding  Prince  Hal 
warns  him  by  Richard's  example  in  making  himself  too 
common  with  the  populace  when 

'  He  was  but  as  the  cuckoo  is  in  June, 
Heard,  not  regarded.' 

We  went  into  the  church  between  morning  and  afternoon 
services  and  had  the  good  fortune  to  find  the  sexton,  whom 
I  asked  to  get  a  ladder  to  enable  me  to  mount  and  examine 
the  bust.  .  .  .  Whether  to  punish  me  for  faults  already 
committed,  or  whether  by  pain  and  tribulation  to  fit  me 
for  a  better  world  I  know  not,  but  it  does  chance,  I  believe, 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  315 

that  I  have  done  more  Kkenesses  from  casts  after  death 
than  any  other  alive,  and  I  hope  for  their  former  happiness 
more  than  any  persons  before;  and  therefore  in  this 
experience  of  reading  a  cast  from  death  over  my  fellow 
creatures  I  occupy  what  may  be  justly  called  a  sad  pre- 
eminence. I  found  the  form  of  the  skull,  so  far  back  as 
I  could  trace  it,  good.  The  forehead,  temples,  brow;  the 
space  between  the  eyebrows  and  partly  down  the  nose 
were  also  good.  The  cheekbones  were  true  to  nature,  and 
the  spaces  between  the  cheekbones  and  the  nose  tenderly 
rendered.  The  cheeks  were  fairly  good  to  the  junctions 
of  the  double  chin,  where  were  genuine  touches  of  truth. 
The  eyes  were  dead  eyes,  with  but  little  knowledge  of 
form  or  attempt  at  expression;  the  lids  above  and  below 
being  merely  conventional  lines  of  weak  ovals.  The 
lower  half  of  the  nose  was  poor  with  no  breath  of  hfe  in 
the  nostrils.  The  length  of  the  upper  lip  exceedingly 
long;  and  the  mouth  if  not  altogether  without  form  was 
certainly  void.  The  chin  could  not  be  seen  for  scratchy 
lines  intended  for  what  we  now  call  an  imperial.  The 
hair  was  utterly  bad,  and  could  be  known  as  the  symbol  of 
hair  only  by  its  position  on  each  side  of  the  head.  These, 
gentlemen,  were  the  facts;  and  they  told  me  the  Bust 
was  done  from  a  cast  taken  after  death  by  a  rude  sculptor ; 
but  by  one  who  conscientiously  did  the  best  he  could 
according  to  the  knowledge  he  possessed. 

"  Now  I  will  endeavour  in  the  best  way  I  can  to  offer  you 
the  proofs.     The  skull,  forehead,  temples,  brow,  space  be- 
tween the  brows,  and  in  part  down  the  nose,  the  cheek- 
bones ;  spaces  between  them  and  the  rise  of  the  nose ;  cheeks 
and  double  chin  were  good  because  these  are  the  parts 
least  affected  by  death,  and  the  plaster  or  wax  used  in 
taking  the  cast  after  death.     The  eyes  were  bad  because 
the  cast  could  not   help  the  sculptor  there.     The  lower 
portions  of  the  nose  and  nostrils  would  have  sunk  in  death 
because  they  are  of  cartilage  and  flesh,  and  the  sculptor 
could  not  compensate  the  defects  by  knowledge  of  form. 
The  upper  lip  was  so  long  because  the  nostrils  had  shrunk 
upwards  and  the  lips  had  dropped;    chap-fallen  is  the  old 


316  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

phrase  of  the  time,  and  the  sculptor  knew  not  how  to  lift 
them  into  the  smile  of  life,  and  left  them  perforce  void  of 
animation  but  not  void  of  meaning,  for  we  see  in  it  the  lack 
of  all  expression,  a  pathetic  proof  of  the  sculptor's  incom- 
petency. The  hair  on  the  chin  and  sides  of  the  head  being 
plastered  down  for  the  purpose  of  taking  the  cast,  gave  no 
aid  save  as  to  position,  hence  their  inadequate  rendering. 
All  the  features  that  could  be  faithfully  copied,  allowing 
for  the  rudeness  of  art  in  both  cases,  correspond  with  the 
Droeshort  portrait,  which,  you  know  has  the  sanction  of 
Ben  Jonson's  authority;  and  between  the  two,  with  the 
aid  of  a  little  imagination  and  observation  of  nature,  we 
may  fairly  construct  a  credible  similitude.  If,  gentlemen, 
you  have  followed  closely  what  I  have  told  you,  which  in 
reading  casts  after  death,  is  the  expressed  experience  of 
my  life,  you  now  know  the  Stratford-on-Avon  Bust  as  well 
as  I  know  it  myself,  ...  I  know  of  no  illustrations  till 
Al.  Boydell  made  his  great  attempt  at  the  end  of  the  last 
century;  the  first  volume  being  published  1803. 

*'  But  the  Masters  of  Music  were  not  idle.  They  did  their 
duty;  and  transcended  duty,  winging  beat  for  beat  with 
our  poet  to  his  highest  flight.  When  we  think  of  Purcell, 
Bishop,  Arne.  ...  we  can  but  feel  those  divine  Masters 
heard  spheral  music,  and  have  given  us  strains  of  that  ante- 
natal song  our  poet,  during  his  earthly  life  remembered  in 
faint  catches,  and  in  his  own  fair  language  strove  dimly 
to  hint  :  for  melodies  of  such  ineffable  sweetness  must 
surely  be  more  the  breathing  of  Immortals,  than  notes 
touched  from  instruments  made  by  human  hands." 

Woolner  then,  before  proposing  the  toast  of  the  evening 
asked  permission  of  his  hearers  to  bring  to  their  recollection 
the  Poet's  treatment  of  flowers. 

"  Perdita  at  the  Shepherds'  Feast  distributed  flowers  with 
every  charm  of  quality  specified — 

'  Daffodils 
That  come  before  the  Swallow  dares  and  take 
The  winds  of  March  with  beauty,  violets  dim. 
But  sweeter  than  the  lids  of  Juno's  eyes, 
Or  Cythera's  breath.' 


HIS  LIFE  IN  LETTERS  317 

And  Ophelia  when  giving  flowers — 

'  There's  rosemary,  that's  for  remembrance, 
And  there  is  pansies,  that's  for  thoughts.' 

But  there  is  one  Httle  flower  she  offers  without  epithet  or 
circumstance.  It  is  the  first  to  deUght  our  baby-hood;  an 
enjoyment  throughout  our  hves ;  and  when  even  flowers  can 
no  longer  gladden,  brightens  the  grass  upon  our  graves. 
She  offers  it  merely  saying  '  There's  a  daisy.' 

"  I  now  ask  you,  gentlemen  all,  to  drink  to  the  memory  of 
William  Shakespeare." 

The  little  club  ("Our  Club")  alluded  to  was  a  small 
literary  club  made  up  more  or  less  of  men  of  note.  Be- 
sides the  names  mentioned  in  this  speech,  it  numbered 
among  its  members  the  great  Sanscrit  scholar.  Dr.  Gins- 
burg,  a  great  friend  of  Woolner's,  and  a  great  admirer 
too.  Dr.  Benjamin  Richardson,  the  famous  advocate 
of  teetotalism,  was  another  member;  Walter  White,  the 
secretary  of  the  Royal  Society,  another ;  and  Dr.  Diamond, 
a  delightful  personality  and  most  hospitable  host,  whose 
dining-room  at  Twickenham  House  was  lined,  one  might 
say,  with  teapots  :  teapots  of  all  sizes,  shapes  and  ware — 
a  fascinating  and  unusual  collection.  Dr.  Diamond  was 
a  picturesque  figure  with  his  pink  face,  thick,  snowy  hair, 
and  bluest  of  eyes ;  he  had  many  a  queer  and  interesting 
tale  to  tell,  and  gossip  of  the  Palace  at  Kew  and  of  its 
inmates  in  the  days  of  the  Georges,  when,  owing  to  financial 
reasons  or  for  economy  the  fireplaces  were  filled  with  fennel 
in  the  summer  and  with  holly  in  the  winter  !  Dr.  Diamond 
was  one  of  the  first  really  good  amateur  photographers, 
and  his  prints  are  uncommonly  full  of  detail,  and  would 
hold  their  own  with  any  portraits  done  by  amateurs  now, 
his  photograph  of  Douglas  Jerrold  being  exceptionally 
good. 

"  Our  Club  "  met  once  a  week  between  October  and 
May  and  dined  together.  It  was  a  most  friendly,  cosy 
club,  and  Woolner  went  there  very  often.     His  chief  club 


318  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

was  the  "  Athenseum,"  to  which  he  was  elected  an  hono- 
rary member  m  1869.  The  "  CosmopoKtan  "  was  one  he 
attended  oftenest  in  earHer  years,  and  about  1861  he  went 
there  continually,  meeting  a  very  varied  and  distinguished 
company.  Although  very  fond  of  his  home  and  home  life 
he  went  to  his  clubs  pretty  constantly,  and  after  dinner 
would  often  drop  in  for  a  pipe  and  chat.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  "  Savile,"  the  "  Savage,"  and  a  life  member  of  the 
"  Garrick  "  since  1865,  and  at  the  latter  he  would  enter- 
tain at  dinner  his  special  friends.  It  is  impossible  to  name 
all  the  friends  Woolner  made  during  his  life ;  many  of  the 
club  friends  were  very  interesting  men  and  genial  com- 
panions— actors,  writers,  lawyers,  newspaper  writers  and 
business  men.  He  was  a  member  of  several  other  clubs, 
and  for  a  time  belonged  to  the  Reform  Club,  from  which 
he  resigned  in  1871. 

He  belonged  to  several  societies  :  to  the  Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Hellenic  Studies,  and  for  some  years  he 
belonged  to  the  Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club  and  to  the 
Statistical  Society;  he  was  a  member  of  the  Rabelais 
Club,  of  which  the  well-known  novelist  Walter  Besant 
was  secretary.  Woolner  was  a  great  raconteur,  and  had 
a  store  of  amusing  anecdotes  and  interesting  facts  which 
he  related  with  much  vivacity. 

During  a  dinner  at  a  country  house  where  Woolner  was 
staying,  a  man  of  science  present  was  arguing  with  a 
neighbour  about  the  theory  of  spontaneous  combustion 
and  explaining  its  horrors,  and  discussing  the  possibility 
of  the  danger  to  a  person,  sodden  with  spirits,  smoking  or 
going  near  to  a  candle  or  any  open  light,  for  fear  of  ignition.^ 
When  the  butler  left  the  room  the  host  turned  to  his 
scientific  guest  and  said  :  "  You  have  done  a  very  good 
deed  talking  about  spontaneous  combustion  :  I  noticed 
O'C.  turn  pale — he  is  an  excellent  servant  but  he  is  too 
fond  of  drink,  this  will  be  a  good  warning  to  him."  Very 
soon  afterwards  the  butler  returned  with  a  Bible  which  he 
took  to  the  clergyman  present  saying  :  ''  Swear  me,  Sir, 
^  See  Charles  Dickens's  Bleak  House,  1st  ed.,  1853,  p.  320. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  319 

swear  me — I  want  to  be  sworn  this  minute."  "  But  not 
now  —  afterwards."  "No,  Sir,  now,"  and  placing  his 
hand  on  the  Bible  he  said  solemnly  :  "  I,  Patrick  O'C. 
swear  never,  never,  never  to — blow  out  a  candle  again  "  ! 

The  following  story  was  another  Woolner  was  fond  of 
telling. 

Years  ago  a  Viceroy  of  Ireland,  a  merry  soul,  and  his 
equerry  were  out  on  a  frolic  one  night  and  went  to  a  little 
inn  famous  for  the  excellent  punch  brewed  by  the  landlord  ; 
after  spending  a  cheery  evening  his  Excellency  called  for  a 
last  bowl  of  punch,  which  mine  host  made  especially  tasty. 
So  delighted  was  the  Viceroy  he  called  to  his  friend  w4th 
him  for  his  sword  and  telling  the  landlord  to  kneel  tapped 
him  on  the  shoulder  saying  "  Arise,  Sir  Peter."  The  next 
morning  the  equerry  talked  over  with  his  superior  last 
night's  escapade  and  they  agreed  they  must  hush  it  up. 
"  Go  and  offer  him  a  hundred  pounds  to  forget  his  knight- 
hood," said  the  Viceroy.  The  messenger  went  and  repre- 
sented the  case  and  urged  the  old  fellow  to  forget  the  whole 
affair  as  nonsense,  offering  him  at  the  same  time  the  hundred 
pounds.  He  answered  He  didn't  care  for  the  title,  he'd 
much  rather  have  the  hundred  pounds,  "but,"  he  added 
regretfully  :    "  Her  ladyship's  uncommon  proud  !  " 


CHAPTER    XX 

T.    WOOLNER   TO    Rt.    HoN.    W.    E.    GLADSTONE 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

31  ay  22,  1882. 

Dear  Mr.  Gladstone, 

You  will  remember  that  Sir  Henry  Parkes  ordered 
a  replica  of  your  Bust  that  I  am  doing  for  the  City  of  Lon- 
don to  be  placed  in  the  new  Executive  Buildings  at  Sydney. 
Since  ordering  your  Bust  he  has  thought  of  giving  me  a 
commission  for  the  four  other  Prime  Ministers  of  England 
since  the  introduction  of  responsible  government  in  the 
Colonies : — 

Earl  Russell  Earl  of  Derby 

Lord  Palmerston  Earl  of  Beaconsfield 

Sir  Henry  tho'  satisfied  himself  would  be  glad  of  an  opinion 
to  justify  him;  therefore  may  I  ask  you  to  kindly  let  me 
know  if  you  approve  of  his  idea  as  that  will  entirely  satisfy 
him. 

Pray  pardon  my  troubling  you,  but  we  could  decide  on 
no  other  opinion  that  would  satisfy  us  both. 

Believe  me  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  T.  Woolner 

10,  Downing  Street,  Whitehall, 
May  30,  1882. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  am  extremely  pleased  to  find  that  your  bust  of 
me  is  so  highly  appreciated. 

It  is  a  very  great  compliment  to  us  both  that  Sir  H. 
Parkes  should  have  desired  a  replica  for  New  South  Wales ; 
but  the  greater  half  is  yours. 

I  am  a  little  embarrassed  about  the  question  of  the  four  ;i 

^  A  series  of  busts  of  English  Premiers  Sir  Henry  Parkes  had  com- 
missioned Woolner  to  execute  for  Sydney. 

320 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  321 

and  I  am  not  quite  certain  of  the  date  from  which  respon- 
sible government  in  N.  S.  Wales  should  be  reckoned.  Lord 
Russell,  however,  the  first  on  the  list,  was  the  first  Minister 
I  think  who  ever  recognised  responsible  government  for 
Colonies.  When  once  acknowledged,  it  could  not  but 
spread.  Without  going  minutely  into  particulars,  I  have 
no  doubt  that  carrying  this  series  of  busts  to  Sydney  would 
be  a  graceful  and  acceptable  testimony  to  the  good  relations 
subsisting  between  these  locally  severed  branches  of  our 
race,  &  would  tend  to  confirm  them. 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 

In  July,  1882,  Woolner  suffered  a  great  loss  by  the  death 
of  his  younger  son  Geoffrey,  a  lovable  boy  with  unusual 
charm  of  character,  without  guile,  endowed  with  the  gift 
of  humour  and  showing  at  that  early  age  a  true  appreciation 
of  poetry.  He  died  at  Marlborough  College  of  scarlet 
fever,  aged  fourteen  and  a  half  years,  and  was  buried  in 
Preshute  Churchyard.  Thus  came  the  first  break  in  the 
Sculptor's  family  of  two  sons  and  four  daughters. 

Extract  from  a  letter  of  W.  M.  Rossetti  to  T.  Woolner; 
after  expressing  his  sympathy  for  the  loss  of  his  son  Geoffrey 
he  continues  :  "  July  23, 1882 — That  drawing  ^  of  my  brother 
will  be  most  precious  to  me.  I  thank  you  very  sincerely 
for  thinking  of  me  in  connexion  with  it  :  it  will  remain  one 
of  my  most  valued  possessions.  Of  course  it  will  be  a 
satisfaction  to  me  on  all  accounts  to  include  the  portrait 
in  the  collection  at  the  R.A." 

Early. 

Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone  to  T.  Woolner 

10,  Downing  Street,  Whitehall, 
October  30,  1882. 
Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

It  was  to  my  wife  and  me  matter  of  the  utmost 
satisfaction  to  see  the  bust  which  you  have  recently  exe- 
cuted of  me  for  the  Guildhall.  My  eye  and  judgement  are 
worth  very  little  and  therefore  I  will  not  trouble  you  with 

^  This  is  the  portrait  of  D.  G.  Rossetti  by  W.  Holman-Hunt,  sent  out  to 
Australia  to  Woohier,  with  the  others  mentioned  in  the  letter  from  Rossetti, 
April  16,  1853. 
Y 


322  THOMAS  WOOLNER,   R.A. 

dwelling  on  my  own  very  warm  admiration.  But  my  wife 
is  I  think  both  ready  and  accurate,  as  I  have  often  observed, 
in  the  faculty  of  immediate  appreciation,  and  her  tribute  is 
rendered  not  less  freely,  not  less  abundantly,  than  my  own. 
....  You  will  I  hope  have  a  day  of  lively  pleasure  at  the 
Guildhall  tomorrow,  and  I  remain 

Most  faithfully  yours, 

W.  E.  Gladstone. 
Thos  :  WooLNER,  Esq.,  R.A. 

Please  to  let  my  name  be  put  down  for  five  of  the  earliest 
of  the  small  guinea  reproductions.^ 

T.    WoOLNER   TO    Rt.   HoN.    W.    E.    GLADSTONE 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

October  31,  1882. 

Dear  Mr.  Gladstone, 

Accept  my  thanks  for  your  most  kind  letter  which 
I  showed  to  the  Lord  Mayor,  who  pronounced  it  a  ''  valu- 
able and  interesting  letter." 

He  and  the  City  Lands  Committee  were  enthusiastic 
in  their  praises  of  the  likeness,  and  said  the  severe  classic 
treatment^  was  most  appropriate  to  your  character,  and 
befitting  your  scholarly  accomplishments.  In  fact  the 
handsome  eulogy  of  the  Lord  Mayor  upon  your  career, 
and  position  in  the  Empire  and  the  way  I  had  rendered 
your  countenance  were  all  the  most  exacting  could  desire, 
and  I  must  add  very  comforting  as  showing  that  my  close 
labours  have  not  been  in  vain. 

Believe  me  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

I  shall  not  forget  Plato  on  the  8th  ! 

Coventry  Patmore  to  T.  Woolner 

Hastings, 

March  18,  1883. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

My  wife  and  I  would  be  much  pleased  if  you  and 
Mrs.  Woolner  could  come  on  Saturday  in  Easter  week  and 

^  Messrs.  Elkington  reproduced  the  bust  in  several  sizes. 

^  The  block  of  marble  for  this  bust  was  sent  as  a  gift  by  the  Greeks. 
Woolner  said  it  was  the  hardest  marble  he  had  ever  carved.  It  came 
from  the  ancient  quarries  in  the  Island  of  Paros. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  323 

stay  a  few  days  with  us.  The  weather  is  Hkely  to  be  fine 
by  then  and  I  would  drive  you  to  some  places  well  worth 
seeing,  but  which  are  wholly  unknown  because  they  are 
only  forty  or  fifty  miles  from  London. 

I  am  glad  that  you  think  so  well  of  Henry's  verses.  I 
have  some  of  his  MSS  much  finer  than  the  Athenceum 
poem.  He  used  to  say  in  fun  to  his  sisters  that  I  should 
be  kno^\Ti  to  future  times  as  "  The  Father  of  Patmore." 
Had  he  lived  I  believe  his  jest  would  have  come  true.  His 
little  poems  have  a  manliness  and  sweetness  which  reflect 
his  character,  and  are  in  strange  contrast  with  nearly  all 
modern  verse,  the  texture  of  which  is  either  inorganic 
and  gritty  as  rough-cast,  or  soft  and  flabby  as  the  flesh  of 
an  unclean  salmon. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Coventry  Patmore. 


T.  WooLNER  TO  Coventry  Patmore 

29,  Welbeck  Street,  W., 

January  29,  1884. 

My  dear  Patmore, 

Best  thanks  for  proofs,  your  words  are  very  encourag- 
ing, and  if  you  saw  the  first  sheet  you  would  see  that  I  was 
profiting  largely  by  your  pencil  marks.  Your  suggestion 
is  good,  and  when  I  have  gone  thro'  all  the  proofs  and  got 
"  revise  "  I  will  make  use  of  your  kindness,  run  down  and 
talk  over  improvements.  The  truth  is  I  had  the  whole 
poem  in  my  mind  at  once  always  (as  I  may  say)  and 
good  workmanship  unless  it  came  naturally,  I  did  not  pay 
enough  attention  to.  .  .  .  Nothing  like  a  ''  candid  friend," 
for  tho'  the  phrase  is  used  as  a  joke  I  am  convinced  it  is 
the  best  way  of  avoiding  obscurity  and  slovenliness.  .  . 

Truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


Coventry  Patmore  to  T.  Woolner 

Hastings, 

April  15,  1884. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

Accept  my  best  thanks  for  the  lovely  Flaxman,  and 
the  Turner,  which  is  like  a  painted  perfume.     There  are 


324  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

two  spaces  of  wall  in  my  study  for  which  I  had  nothing 
good  enough.  Now  these  will  be  filled.  I  don't  think  you 
will  regret  the  work  you  have  put  upon  your  poem.^  .  .  . 

Yours  ever  truly, 

C.  Patmore. 


In  1884  the  Sculptor  went  for  two  delightful  cruises,  the 
first  being  in  April,  with  Admiral  Sir  Anthony  Hoskins 
on  board  H.M.S.  Hawk,  on  a  coastguard  inspection  tour 
around  Ireland,  beginning  at  Tory  Island  and  going  on  to 
the  Giants'  Causeway,  Belfast,  Dundalk  Bay,  Dublin, 
Wicklow  Bay,  Waterford  Harbour ;  and  then  by  the  Bris- 
tol Channel  to  England,  having  visited  with  the  Admiral 
109  stations  within  a  month.  He  describes  at  Ardglass 
"  the  ruins  of  a  castle,  built  in  the  reign  of  King  John  by  De 
Courcy,  who  beat  all  the  Irish  Kings  about  here  and  at  last 
threw  off  his  own  King  John.  On  one  side  of  the  castle 
facing  South,  which  is  the  warm  side,  there  are  such  numer- 
ous patches  of  yellow  wallflowers  that  the  walls  look  to  be 
almost  plated  with  gold.  They  begin  to  bloom  in  March, 
continue  in  rich  blossom  throughout  the  summer  and  do 
not  end  till  November.  All  the  other  sides  are  dark  gray 
stone  and  look  very  gloomy." 

The  second  cruise  he  went  was  on  board  the  yacht 
Zingara,  as  the  guest  of  Sir  Donald  Currie,  starting  from 
Dundee  in  July  to  see  the  midnight  sun.  They  stopped 
at  Stavanger,  where  on  visiting  the  cemetery  Woolner  saw, 
which  seemed  to  him  a  curious  custom,  little  chairs  placed 
near  the  graves .  On  her  way  to  the  North  Cape  the  Zingara 
stopped  at  most  of  the  important  and  famous  towns  on 
the  coast,  giving  the  travellers  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
Laps  and  Finns  and  taking  drives  now  and  again  inland 
to  see  the  country — on  one  occasion  the  party  surprised  a 
reindeer  on  the  top  of  a  rock  they  had  climbed,  and  a  note 
in  Woolner's  diary  states  "  saw  eagle  chased  by  a  gull." 
In  September  the  Sculptor  went  up  to  Scotland  to  model 
portraits  of  Sir  Donald  and  Lady  Currie  and  one  of  the 
daughters . 

"  SUenus." 


T.    WOOLNER    IN    HIS    STUDIO 


Printed  by  permission  of  Messrs.  Speaight.] 


[To  face  page  325. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  325 

Cardinal  Newman  to  T.  Woolner 

July  24,  1884. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  thank  you  for  your  new  Poem.^  You  have  the 
gift  of  writing  what  is  music,  and  it  is  kind  in  you  to  send 
it  to  me.  In  some  respects  I  am  little  fitted  to  be  your 
critic  :  for  (tho'  I  am  not  sure)  you  seem  to  me  to  have 
some  deeper  meaning  than  the  smooth  and  calm  tenor 
of  your  versification  makes  necessary,  but  what  this  is 
I  cannot  determine. 

You  illustrate  by  your  subject  what  Gibbon,  I  think,  calls 
the  "  elegant  m>i:hology  "  of  Greece  and  Rome — but,  as 
found  in  the  great  classic  poets,  it  is  severe  as  well  as  grace- 
ful, and,  putting  aside  other  considerations,  I  prefer,  as  a 
matter  of  critical  rule,  the  severe  school. 

Excuse  a  short  acknowledgement  from  an  old  man,  whose 
brain  and  fingers  move  slower  than  they  once  did. 

Very  truly  yours, 

John  H.  Card.  Newman. 

Thomas  Woolner,  Esq. 


Coventry  Patmore  to  T.  Woolner 

Hastings, 

May  14,  1886. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  have  just  received  a  lovely  little  picture,  which 
must  have  come  from  you,  as  it  is  in  the  case  in  which  you 
received  Bertha's  drawing  for  the  Academy.  How  shall  I 
thank  you  enough  ?  But  how  shall  I  look  over  your  proofs 
for  the  future,  if,  every  time  I  do  so,  you  send  me  some 
precious  work  of  art — especially  when,  in  other  ways,  you 
have  more  than  cancelled  such  petty  obligations  ? 

Yours  ever  truly, 

C.  Patmore. 

The  Spring  is  in  full  glory  now.     Cannot  you  &  Mrs. 
Woolner  spare  a  day  or  two  at  once  ? 


1  it 


Silenus." 


326  THOMAS   WOOLNER,    R.A. 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Coventry  Patmore 

Charmouth  House, 
Charmouth, 

June  18,  1886. 

My  dear  Patmore, 

I  ought  before  to  have  thanked  you  for  sending  me 
your  book,  which  looks  very  compact  and  dainty  without, 
as  befits  its  contents. 

I  have  sent  a  copy  to  Sir  Frederick  Weld,  Governor  of 
the  Straits  Settlements,  and  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Chideock 
close  by  here.  He  is  fond  of  poetry,  and  I  wanted  to  pay 
him  an  elegant  little  compliment,  and  your  book  came  in 
just  the  thing.  He  was  a  Very  intimate  friend  of  dear  old 
Sir  John  Simeon.  I  am  much  obliged  for  your  having 
written  to  Spectator  and  am  not  surprized  you  have  re- 
ceived no  reply,  the  fact  is  he  is  a  queer  creature  and  cannot 
in  any  way  be  relied  on  except  to  do  something  funny.  It 
seems  to  me,  that  the  boycotting  which  has  been  established 
against  me  for  24  years  as  regards  sculpture,  has  now  begun 
in  literary  matters.  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  and  I 
have  often  thought  it  curious  that  it  has  not  begun  before. 
I  have  3  girls  down  here  who  enjoy  themselves  amazingly. 

Ever  truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

Sir  Frederick  Aloysius  Weld  gave  Woolner  the  com- 
mission to  execute  the  statue  of  Sir  Stamford  Raffles  for 
Singapore ;  the  Sculptor  said  it  was  the  most  pleasing 
public  commission  he  had  ever  had — there  was  no  com- 
mittee. The  statue  was  colossal  and  of  bronze.  The 
unveiling  ceremony  was  very  imposing :  the  natives 
expressed  their  admiration  of  the  work,  but  regretted  the 
figure  had  no  hat  under  the  burning  sun  of  the  Straits 
Settlements  ! 

Coventry  Patmore  to  T.  Woolner 

Hastings, 

October  18,  1886. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

We  have  been  hunting  about  for  some  one  to  do  the 
figure  vignettes  for  the  "  Angel,"  and  have  actually  been 
consulting  the  only  man  who  could  do  them — yourself. 
The  dignity,  sweetness,  and  originality  of  your  vignettes 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  327 

to  the  "  Golden  Treasury  Series  "  and  one  or  two  drawings  I 
have  seen  of  yours,  shew  that  you  and  no  other  are  capable 
of  the  thing  wanted.  I  have  mentioned  it  to  Bell,  who  has 
asked  me  to  write  to  you  about  it.  Don't  say  "  No  "  in  a 
hurry.  If  the  work  is  done,  it  will  be  done  handsomely  in 
all  respects. 

Yours  ever  truly, 

C.  Patmore. 

Did  you  see  my  letter  on  the  Dartford  speech  in  the  St, 
Jameses,  a  day  or  two  after  it  was  delivered  ?  If  not  I  think 
you  would  like  it.  I  have  received  a  pressing  invitation 
from  one  of  the  biggest  quarters  to  write  political  articles 
on  the  strength  of  it.  Fancy  my  turning  politician  at 
this  time  of  day  ! 

T.  WooLNER  TO  Coventry  Patmore 

29,  Welheck  Street,  W., 

October  24,  1886. 

My  dear  Patmore, 

...  I  must  come  down  one  Saturday  and  have  a 
chat  with  you  about  the  illustrations.  Were  I  free  and  in 
the  habit  of  sketching  I  know  of  nothing  that  would  give 
me  greater  pleasure  than  making  a  series  of  poetic  designs 
for  your  poems,  as  the  quality  of  the  workmanship  is  of  a 
kind  to  inspire  the  finest  pencil. 

You  will  be  shocked  to  know  that  I  have  purchased  an- 
other estate  in  Sussex  of  about  132  acres  near  Horsham, 
which  is  scarcely  more  than  an  hour  from  London.  .  .  . 
My  land  begins  opposite  Field  Place,  the  birthplace  of 
Shelley;  from  where  I  think  of  running  up  my  cottage 
I  can  see  Blackdown  where  Tennyson  lives,  so  you  see,  I 
shall  be  in  as  it  were  a  poetic  atmosphere.  I  should  like 
you  to  look  the  place  over  some  day  as  your  ideas  would 
be  good  guidance  for  me.  .  .  . 

Truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 

The  little  estate  mentioned  in  the  letter  to  Coventry 
Patmore  was  in  Sussex,  near  the  borders  of  Surrey — a  small 
peasant's  cottage  stood  in  the  midst  of  fields  half  a  mile  down 
a  winding  rough  cart-road.  Woolner  built  a  good-sized 
house  on  to  this  little  cottage  and  took  the  keenest  interest 


828  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

in  laying  out  the  garden  and  pleasure  grounds — for  which 
occupation  he  had  a  gift,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  last 
two  years  of  his  life  were  spent  going  down  there  to  plant 
and  to  plan.  He  had  a  small  farm  which  gave  him  about 
as  much  bother  as  pleasure.  He  got  weary  of  the  worries 
of  the  farm  bailiffs  and  the  expense,  as  he  did  with  his 
other  country  house ;  and  decided  to  sell  the  place  and  had 
given  instructions  to  an  estate  agent  to  dispose  of  the  little 
property  a  few  months  before  he  died  in  1892. 

Coventry  Patmore  to  T.  Woolner 

Hastings, 

October  25,  1886. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  I  am  pleased  by  the  hope 
that  you  will  undertake  the  figure  pieces  for  the  "  Angel." 
So  long  as  there  was  talk  of  any  one  else  doing  them,  I  did 
not  feel  a  grain  of  interest  in  the  project.  .  .  .  But  it  will 
be  very  different  if  you  do  it.  .  .  . 

Come  down  any  Saturday  you  can,  except  Nov.  6,  when 
I  am  going  down  to  Cambridge  for  a  day  or  two.  .  .  . 

Yours  very  truly, 

C.  Patmore. 

T.  Woolner  to  Coventry  Patmore 

29,  Welheck  Street,  W., 

February  2,  1887. 
My  dear  Patmore, 

Your  Sussex  Farmer  papers  are  simply  excellent. 
...  I  have  thought  a  great  deal  about  your  illustrations 
but  with  no  effect.  The  truth  is  that  when  I  am  deeply 
occupied  with  one  thing  I  cannot  turn  to  another.  I  began 
reading  the  poem  with  the  best  intentions,  and  with  a  view 
to  designs,  but  after  a  book  or  two  I  quite  forgot  the  draw- 
ings and  became  absorbed  in  the  poetry,  and  not  until  I  had 
finished  did  I  remember  that  I  had  been  enjoying  myself 
instead  of  working  as  I  ought  to  have  been.  When  out 
of  practice  designing  is  like  anything  else  and  gets  rusty.  .  . 
You  must  now  begin  to  see  signs  of  spring  in  crocuses 
and  daffodils.     Happy  Man  ! 

Truly  yours, 

Thomas  Woolner. 


HIS   LIFE   IN  LETTERS  329 

W.  B.  Scott  to  T.  Woolner 

Penkill, 

Girvan,  Ayrshire, 

July  31,  1887. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  have  a  pleasant  task  to  perform  in  thanking  you 
for  the  two  httle  lyrical  poems  about  Children.  My  wife 
is  here  just  now,  and  we  three  had  a  holiday  hour  in  her 
reading  your  little  book  aloud,  which  she  did  very  well. 

It  is  full  of  rich  and  beautiful  touches  of  description  of 
external  nature  and  the  aspects  of  the  day.  These  it 
appears  to  me  are  what  you  have  gone  in  for  more  than  for 
anything  else.  Of  beautiful  human  nature  in  children  I 
have  had  few  opportunities  of  judging — to  my  thinking 
little  boys  care  for  nothing  that  is  not  alive,  nothing  that 
they  can't  hurt  and  appropriate;  and  little  girls  nothing 
they  can't  appropriate  for  dress  or  decoration.  What  you 
ssij  oi  the  Angelin  the  House  is  Pro-di-gious.  ...  I  knew 
Patmore  very  well,  that  is  to  say  we  exchanged  presentation 
copies  w^  I  still  preserve,  and  I  always  spent  an  evening 
or  more  with  him  on  my  annual  visits  to  town  for  two 
or  three  years.  His  poems  are  not  the  kind  of  poems 
uncultivated  people  w*^  care  for,  are  they  ?  .  .  . 

My  dear  Woolner, 
Ever  yours, 

William  Bell  Scott. 


Coventry  Patmore  to  T.  Woolner 

Hastings, 

August  23,  1887. 
My  dear  Woolner, 

.  .  .  Mrs.  Patmore  joins  with  me  in  hoping  that  you 
and  Mrs.  Woolner  and  your  eldest  daughter  will  be  able 
to  come  and  stay  with  us  for  a  week,  any  time  after  that 
date  ^  that  may  best  suit  you.  It  will  be  a  real  treat  to  all 
of  us  if  you  can  come.  We  are  going  to  spend  the  fortnight 
at  Chillam — a  most  lovely  old  and  apparently  unknown 
village  about  six  miles  from  Canterbury — every  house 
a  model  of  the  old  English  cottage  architecture,  all  the 
houses  forming  two  sides  of  a  little  square  "  place  " — a 
third  side  being  occupied  by  the  walls  &  gateway  to  a  Tudor 

^  September  12. 


330  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

Castle  and  the  fourth  by  a  fine  old  church.     It  is  quite 
unlike  anything  else  I  have  seen  in  England.  .  .  . 

Yours  ever  truly, 

C.  Patmore. 


W.  Aldis  Wright  to  T.  Woolner 

Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 

November  24,  1887. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  was  quite  unprepared  for  the  surprise  you  have 
arranged  for  me.  You  told  me  five  years  ago  when  you 
first  proposed  my  sitting  to  Ouless  that  you  intended  my 
portrait  at  some  time  to  come  into  the  possession  of  the 
College,  but  I  had  no  idea  that  it  was  coming  so  soon  and 
I  was  absent  from  the  Council  Meeting  at  which  your 
letter  was  read.  The  distinction  you  have  conferred  upon 
me  is  only  shared  by  Professor  Cayley,  whose  portrait  is  in 
the  small  Combination  Room.  All  the  other  portraits  are 
of  the  dead.  I  can  assure  you  I  esteem  it  a  great  honour 
and  can  only  thank  you  for  the  friendly  feeling  which  has 
prompted  you  to  exaggerate  my  deserts. 

Believe  me, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

W.  Aldis  Wright. 
T.  Woolner,  Esq. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Montagu  Butler  to  T.  Woolner 

Trinity  Lodge,  Cambridge, 

December  5,  1887. 

Dear  Mr.  Woolner, 

I  was  so  sorry  to  miss  you  to-day.  It  has  been  a 
day  of  veritable  slavery.  It  is  well  really  that  you  were 
not  able  to  accept  my  Luncheon  proposal  for  1.30,  for  our 
Council  lasted  from  11  till  all  but  2.30.  .  .   . 

After  the  Council  followed  innumerable  letters  &  a 
Committee,  lasting  straight  away  till  8.15.  .  .  .  We  must 
hope  that,  when  we  are  able  to  celebrate  the  Commemora- 
tion you  will  come  again  among  us.  By  that  time  the 
Council  will  probably  have  determined  the  final  resting- 
place,  at  least  for  a  time,  of  the  Portrait.^     It  has  been 

^  Tlie  portrait  of  W.  Aldis  Wright,  by  W.  W.  Ouless,  R.A.,  given  by 
Woolner,  for  whom  it  was  painted,  to  Trinity  College. 


HIS   LIFE   IN   LETTERS  331 

removed  from  the  front  Hall   to   the  State  Dramngroom 
upstairs. 

Believe  me  to  be 

Most  truly  yours, 

H.  ^IoNTAGU  Butler. 


Coventry  Patmore  to  T.  Woolner 

Hastings, 

December  17,  1889. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

Your  letter  is  a  great  relief  to  me,  for,  as  I  get  older 
I  value  more  the  very  few  friends  whom  death  or  the 
vitiating  effects  of  fame  have  left  me. 

I  bought  all  last  Saturday's  papers,  to  see  what  they 
would  say  about  Browning.  It  was,  as  you  say,  a  marvel- 
lous chaos  of  silliness.  B.  was  a  man  of  various  and 
remarkable  ability.  But  two  things  are  essential  to  Poetry. 
It  must  be  interiorly  worthy  and  externally  beautiful. 
Without  a  beautiful  exterior,  however  worthy  the  interior, 
it  is  not  poetry,  any  more  than  a  dish  of  stewed  apples  is 
a  pie.  A  pie  must  have  a  crust,  and  a  good  pie  a  good 
crust.  Stewed  apples  with  a  lid  of  leather  which  defies 
the  teeth  are  even  less  of  an  approach  to  a  good  pie  than 
the  stewed  apples  would  be,  if  served  in  an  open-dish,  i.  e. 
prose.  In  all  Browning's  16  or  17  volumes  I  do  not  re- 
member as  many  pages  of  poetry  properly  so-called. 
Herrick  is  a  far  better  Poet  than  Browning,  though  intel- 
lectually an  insect  in  comparison. 

Yours  ever  truly, 

Coventry  Patmore. 


W.  Aldis  Wright  to  T.  Woolner 

Becdes, 

January  9,  1890. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  have  been  aware  for  some  time  of  a  strange  um- 
brella in  my  rooms  and  did  not  know  to  whom  it  belonged. 
When  I  come  to  town  next  I  will  bring  it  with  me.  .  .  . 

My  interpretation  of  Hamlet's  soliloquy  does  not  in  the 
least  interfere  with  the  business  of  the  play.  His  mind  is 
filled  with  the  idea  of  suicide  as  a  ready  release  from  his 
difficulties,  and  he  meditates  upon  it  in  all  its  aspects,  his 


832  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

meditation  in  this  as  in  all  other  parts  of  his  conduct  lead- 
ing to  inaction.  All  that  I  dispute  is  that  the  first  line, 
"  To  be,  or  not  to  be,  that  is  the  question,"  means  ''  Shall  I 
or  shall  I  not  put  an  end  to  my  existence  ?  "  and  that  this 
question  is  repeated  in  another  form  in  the  two  Hues  that 
follow.  The  dramatic  fitness  seems  to  me  the  same  on 
either  supposition. 

I  went  yesterday  in  a  south  fog  to  Framlingham  to  see 
the  old  tombs  of  the  Howards  in  the  Church.  This  comes 
of  wTiting  notes  on  Henry  8.  .  .  . 

Yours  ever, 

W.  Aldis  Wright. 

T.  WooLNER,  Esq. 

Coventry  Patmore  to  T.  Woolner 

Hastings, 

November  24,  1890. 

My  dear  Woolner, 

I  am  grieved  and  disgusted  by  all  you  tell  me. 
Every  day  I  live  makes  this  rotten  hole,  the  world,  more 
hateful  to  me.  Only  let  us  try  that  it  may  be  Purgatory, 
not  Hell  to  us. 

Yours  ever, 

Coventry  Patmore. 

The  Salters'  Company,  in  May,  1891,  conferred  on  the 
Sculptor  the  Honorary  Freedom  and  Livery  of  their  Guild. 
He  was  very  pleased  at  this  compHment,  and  much  enjoyed 
the  intercourse  with  his  new  friends. 

In  July,  before  the  Banquet  to  inaugurate  the  new 
member,  Woolner  attended  the  court  to  receive  the  Free- 
dom of  the  Guild  on  an  illuminated  roll  presented  to  him 
in  a  silver-gilt  casket. 

After  the  feasting  was  over  the  Master,  Mr.  Coventry, 
proposed  the  heath  of  the  new  member ;  and  Woolner,  in 
acknowledging  the  honour,  replied  in  an  eloquent  speech 
on  art  and  artists. 

In  1892  Woolner  was  working  on  "  The  Housemaid,"  a 
life-sized  figure  of  a  servant  girl  wringing  out  the  cloth  with 
which  she  washes  the  doorstep  (a  sight  which  may  be  seen 
any  morning  early  in  the  London  streets);  it  was  a  subject 


THE    HOUSEMAID,     1892 

Life-size  bronze  statue. 


[To  face  page  332 


HIS   LIFE  IN   LETTERS  333 

which  the  Sculptor  had  long  wished  to  do — having  noticed 
the  graceful  action — he  used  to  say  the  servant  girls  in 
their  plain  print  frocks  and  caps  were  the  best  dressed 
women  in  London  on  week-da  vs.  and  the  worst  dressed  on 
Sundays  !  He  finished  the  clay  model,  and  it  had  been 
cast  and  cleaned  up  by  him  a  few  weeks  before  his  last 
illness.  After  his  death  the  model  was  cast  in  bronze  in 
time  for  the  Royal  Academy  Exhibition  in  1893,  but  it 
was  placed  in  a  poor  position  and  could  not  be  seen  on  all 
sides,  so  that  Woolner's  last  work  has  really  not  been 
properly  seen  by  the  British  public :  the  central  place  of 
honour  that  year  was  given  to  a  mass  of  ferns  and 
flowers. 

In  the  autumn  of  1892  Woolner  underwent  an  operation 
from  which  he  was  believed  to  be  recovering,  but  he  died 
suddenly  from  a  heart  seizure  on  October  7,  the  day  after 
the  death  of  his  old  friend  Lord  Tennyson,  the  Poet 
Laureate. 

On  October  13  Woolner  was  buried  in  the  churchyard  of 
St.  Mary's,  Hendon,  near  a  fine  old  ash-tree.  The  spot 
where  he  lies  is  marked  by  a  coped  tombstone,  on  which 
is  carved  a  large  thorny  rose-stem,  blossoming  out  into 
wild  roses  at  the  head.  At  the  foot,  carved  in  the  tri- 
angular space,  is  a  design  within  a  circle,  of  his  sculptor's 
hammer  and  chisels. 

Towards  the  end  of  his  life  false  insinuations  and  igno- 
rant criticisms  could  not  fail  to  embitter  him,  and  although 
to  his  special  friends  and  to  his  family  he  was  genial,  kind 
and  responsive,  to  the  outer  world  he  appeared  stern. 

He  found  it  difficult  to  forgive  meanness  and  ingratitude. 
He  was  very  generous  himself,  and  loved  giving  presents 
— even  his  own  works  he  would  often  give  away,  although, 
as  a  rule,  men  do  not  care  to  do  this,  as  the  great 
Dr.  Johnson  remarks. 

He  was  a  devoted  husband  and  a  kind  and  indulgent 
father — interested  in  his  children's  pursuits  and  amused 
at  their  opinions  of  men  and  politics  fearlessly  expressed. 
He  was  very  fond  of  animals,  and  was  a  constant  visitor 


334  THOMAS   WOOLNER,   R.A. 

to  the  Zoological  Gardens,  generally  taking  with  him  one 
or  two  children  besides  his  wife.  Many  of  the  animals 
grew  to  know  him,  and  one  little  monkey  in  particular, 
"  Jimmy,"  would,  on  seeing  him  approach  his  cage,  hurry 
to  select  from  his  store  of  delicacies  hidden  in  hay,  his  best 
morsel,  a  date,  and  gently  offer  it  to  the  sculptor,  and 
remain  for  a  long  time  clinging  to  his  finger  chattering 
his  satisfaction. 

Woolner  had  a  fine  and  interesting  collection  of  books, 
he  was  a  great  reader,  and  his  reading  aloud  was  a 
treat  to  his  children;  often  after  dinner  they  would 
assemble  in  the  library  to  hear  him  read  aloud  Borrow's 
Lavengro  and  Romany  Rye,  or  the  poems  of  Crabbe; 
sometimes  he  would  read  them  his  own  poems  before 
they  were  published.  Two  of  his  favourite  authors  were 
Jane  Austen  and  Samuel  Richardson;  Shakespeare  was, 
to  his  mind,  above  every  other  writer,  but  this  preference 
is  almost  universal  with  any  great  reader  and  thinker. 

Mr.  Callander  Ross,  a  friend  of  later  days,  wrote  this 
appreciation  in  the  obituary  notice  of  The  Times — 

''  The  dominant  characteristic  of  Woolner's  work,  whether 
in  sculpture  or  in  poetry,  is  its  entire  conscientiousness 
and  thoroughness.  He  spared  no  pains  to  get  at  the 
heart  of  his  subject  and  to  master  every  detail.  .  .  .  His 
workmanship  was  as  thorough  as  his  study.  His  time  and 
labour  were  freely  expended  in  the  pursuit  of  perfection, 
without  regard  to  the  pecuniary  considerations  that  too 
often  take  precedence  of  all  else.  There  are  no  pot-boilers 
from  his  hand,  and  nothing  in  the  long  catalogue  of  his 
works  that  does  not  display  truth  of  sentiment,  purity 
of  taste,  and  consummate  executive  ability.  In  life,  as 
in  art,  he  was  the  uncompromising  foe  of  shams,  of  clap- 
trap, and  of  superficiality.  To  other  men's  work  in  all 
departments  he  applied  no  other  standard  than  that  by 
which  he  habitually  tested  his  own,  and  while  indulgent 
and  even  tender  to  honest  effort,  however  imperfect  its 
results,  he  was  a  severe  critic  of  pretentious  mediocrity. 
To  those  who  won  his  confidence  he  was  a  firm  and  generous 


HIS   LIFE  IN  LETTERS 


335 


friend,  and  to  many  whose  only  claim  was  their  misfortune 
he  proved  a  liberal  benefactor.  His  racy  conversation,  his 
pungent  criticism,  and  his  rich  store  of  anecdote  and 
reminiscence,  drawn  from  a  long  and  varied  experience, 
^vill  long  dwell  in  the  memory  of  those  privileged  to  enjoy 
his  friendship.  Happy  in  his  friends,  yet  more  happy  in 
his  family,  endowed  with  keen  perceptions  and  abundant 
vitality,  and  blessed  with  simple,  healthy  tastes,  which  are 
the  true  sources  of  perennial  enjoyment." 


'LABORARE   EST   ORARE 


LIST   OF  WORKS 

1843.  "  Eleanor    sucking    poison    from    wound    of    Prince 

Edward."     Group,  plaster. 

1844.  "  Death  of  Boadicea."     Life-size  group,  plaster. 

1845.  "  Affection."     Bas-relief,  plaster. 

1846.  "  Alastor."     Bas-relief,  plaster. 

1847.  Adolphus  Ashford.     Medallion,  plaster. 

"  Puck."     (Exhibited   British   Institution.)     Statuette, 

plaster. 
"  Feeding  the  Hungry."     (Boy  and  Chickens.)    Figure, 

plaster. 

1848.  "  Eros     and    Euphrosyne "      (reproduced     in      black 

Wedgwood). 
"  The  Rainbow."     Bas-relief,  plaster. 
"  Titania  and  the  Indian  Boy."     Group,  plaster. 

1849?    "Little    Red    Ridinghood."      Figure   (reproduced    by 
Copeland). 

1849.  Coventry  Patmore.     Medallion,  plaster. 

1850.  Mrs.  Coventry  Patmore.     Medallion,  plaster. 

1851.  Mrs.  Orme.     Medallion,  plaster  (not  exhibited). 
Rosaline  Orme.     Medallion,  bronze  (not  exhibited). 
Alfred  Tennyson.^     Medallion,  plaster. 

Thomas  Carlyle.^     Medallion,  plaster. 
William  Wordsworth.     Memorial  tablet  with  medallion 
portrait.     (Grasmere  Church.)     Marble. 

1852.  "  England  rewards  agriculture."  Design  for  medal. 
Design  for  Monument  to  William  Wordsworth,  consist- 
ing of  seated  figure  of  the  Poet  on  a  pedestal  decorated 
with  bas-relief  "  Peter  Bell  and  his  Ass,"  and  two 
groups  of  two  figures  Father  and  Son,  Mother  and 
Daughter. 

1  With  the  medallions  of  Tennyson  and  Carlyle  Woolner  was  dissatisfied, 
and  modelled  others  in  1855  and  1856. 

336 


LIST   OF  WORKS  337 

1853  and  1854.     The  Australian  Portraits.^ 

W.  C.  Wentworth.     Medallion  portrait. 
Governor-General     Sir     Charles    Fitzroy.       Medallion 

portrait. 
James  Martin.     Medallion  portrait. 
Gk)vernor  Latrobe.     Medallion  portrait. 
Captain  Cole.     Medallion  portrait. 
Octavius  Browne.     Medallion  portrait. 
John  Pinney  Bear.     Medallion  portrait. 
Mrs.  Bear.     Medallion  portrait. 
Dr.  Howitt.     Medallion  portrait. 
Mrs.  Howitt.     Medallion  portrait. 
Miss  Edith  Howitt.     Medallion  portrait. 
Charley  Howitt  (a  child).     Medallion  portrait. 
William  Fanning.     Medallion  portrait. 
Mrs.  Fanning.     Medallion  portrait. 
Admiral  Philip  Parker  King.     Medallion  portrait. 
Edward  Hamilton.     Medallion  portrait. 
Sir  Charles  Nicholson.     Medallion  portrait. 
W.  Macarthur.     Medallion  portrait. 
George  Macleay.     Medallion  portrait. 
Mr.  Reynolds.     Medallion  portrait. 
James  Macarthur.     Medallion  portrait. 
Dr.  Bland.     Medallion  portrait. 
Thomas  Barker.     Medallion  portrait. 
Portrait  of  a  Lady.     Medallion. 

1855.  Thomas  Carlyle.     Medallion,  bronze.  . 

1856.  "  Love."     Half -lifesi zed.     Statuette,  marble. 
Mrs.  Neville.     Medallion. 

Helen    F.     Orme.     Medallion.     (Exhibited     at     Royal 

Academy  as  "  Portrait  of  a  Lady.") 
Robert  Browning.     Medallion. 
Alfred  Tennyson.     Medallion. 

1857.  Lord    Bacon.      Statue,   Caen    stone.      (New   Museum, 

Oxford.) 
Alfred  Tennyson.     Bust,  marble.    (In  Library,  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge.) 

1858.  Models  of  Moses,  David,  St.  John,  St.  Paul  (for  Pulpit 

of  Llandaff  Cathedral). 

1859.  Mrs.  Tennyson.     Medallion. 
George  Warde  Norman.     Medallion. 

*  All  these  medallions  were  cast  in  bronze,  and  some  reduced  to  quarter 
size.     Small  specimens  of  Governor  Latrobe  and  W.  C.  Wentworth  are  in 
the  National  Portrait  Gallery,  London. 
z 


338  LIST   OF  WORKS 

1859.  Rt.  Hon.  Stephen  Lushington.     Medallion. 
Thomas  Fairhairn.     Medallion,  bronze. 
Alexander  A.  Knox.     Medallion,  bronze. 
Rajah  Brook  of  Sarawak.     Bust,  marble. 

Edward  Henry  Lushington.  (A  child's  head.)  Bust, 
marble. 

1860.  Sir  William  Hooker.     (Linnean  Society.)     Bust,  marble. 
Professor   Sedgwick.     (In    Trinity  College,  Cambridge.) 

Bust,  marble. 
Edward  H.  J.  Crawford.     Medallion. 
Design  for  Palmer  Cross.     Marble. 

1861.  Sir  Francis  Palgrave.     Medallion. 
Rev.  W.  G.  Clark.     Medallion. 

Rev.  F.  D.  Maurice.     Bust,  marble. 

Exhibited  in  Royal  Academy  1863. 

Replica  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

Replica  in  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

The  original  in  Working  Women's  College. 
John  Ashley  Warre  (Ramsgate).     Tablet,  marble. 
Professor  Henslow.     Bust,  marble. 
Design  for  Cawnpore  Memorial  (not  executed). 

1862.  William  Miller  Christy.     Bust,  marble. 

"  Brother  and  Sister."  (Constance  and  Arthur.)  Life- 
size  group,  marble.  (Exhibited  at  Great  Interna- 
tional Exhibition,  1862.) 

William  Fairhairn.  Bust,  marble.  (Exhibited  Inter- 
national Exhibition.) 

William  Shaen.     Bust,  marble. 

1863.  Archdeacon  Hare.     Bust,  marble. 
Arthur  Hugh  Clough.     Bust,  marble. 

1864.  The  Prince  Consort.    Statue,  Caen  stone.  (New  Museum, 

Oxford.) 
Thomas  Combe.     Bust,  marble. 
Gifford  Palgrave.     Medallion. 
William  Spottiswoode.     Bust,  plaster. 

1865.  John  Robert  Godley.     Statue,  bronze. 

(Exhibited  in  South  Kensington  Museum.     Erected 

in  New  Zealand,  1867.) 
Miss  Emily  Rhodes.     Medallion,  plaster. 
Professor  Cockerell.     Bust,  plaster  ? 
Design  for  Spofforth  Cross.     Marble. 
Lord  Ashburton.     Bust,  marble. 


LIST   OF   WORKS  339 

1865.  Richard  Cohden.     Bust,   marble.     Three  replicas   were 

carved   of    Cobden's    bust :    one    is   in   Westminster 
Abbey ;  one  in  National  Portrait   Gallery,  London  ; 
one  went  to  Napoleon  III,  Emperor  of  the  French. 
David  Sassoon.     Bust,  marble. 

1866.  John  M.  Kemble,  Anglo-Saxon  scholar.     Bust. 
John  Fowler.     Bust,  marble. 

Mr.  Cox.     Bust. 

Sir  William  Hooker.     Medallion. 

Lord    Macaulay.     Statue,    marble.     (Seated    figure    in 

Ante-Chapel,  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.) 
Dr.  Symonds,  of  Clifton.     Bust,  marble. 
"  Puck.''     Figure,  bronze.     (Exhibited  Royal  Academy. 

Modelled  in  1847.) 

1867.  Dr.  John  Henry  Newman.     (Afterwards  Cardinal  New- 

man.)    Bust,  marble. 
'"''Heavenly    Welcome.'''     Marble    monument,  alto-relief. 

(In    memory    of   Mrs.   Archibald   Peel    and   Son,   in 

Wrexham  Church,  North  Wales.) 
Henry  Christy.     Bust,  marble.     (Li  British  Museum.) 
Henry  Christy.     Medallion,  marble. 
Prescott   Memorial.     Marble.     (Recumbent    figure   and 

bas-relief.) 
Captain  Fowke.    Bust.    (In  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum ; 

sent  to  the  1867  Paris  Universal  Exhibition.) 
Mother   and   Child.      Lifesize   group,   marble.      (Called 

the  Trevelyan  Group,  executed  for  Sir  Walter  Tre- 

velyan  of  Wallington.     Exhibited  South  Kensington 

Museum,  1867.) 
Alfred  Tennyson.     Three-quarter  medallion.     (Modelled 

in  1864.     Exhibited  Royal  Academy,  1867.) 

Designs  modelled  for  Manchester  Assize  Courts — ^ 

Figures  of  Alfred,  Henry  II,  Edward  I,  Randolph  de 
Glanville,  Judge  Gascoigne,  Sir  Edward  Coke,  Sir 
Thomas  More,  Sir  Matthew  Hale.   Mercy.    Justice. 

Large  statue  of  Moses. 

Alto -relief  Judgment  of  Solomon — figures  Good  Woman 
and  Drunken  Woman. 

Two  Alto-reliefs  of  Historical  Subjects. 

1868.     Elaine.   Half-lifesize.   Statuette,  marble.   (Three  replicas 
of  this  figure  were  carved.) 

^  These  designs  were  modelled  by  Woolner  between  1863  and   1867, 
when  they  were  finished.     The  figures  are  carved  in  stone. 


840  LIST   OF  WORKS 

1868.  William  III.     Statue,  marble.     (Westminster  Hall.) 
Dr.  Robert  Haines.     Bust,  marble.     (Bombay.) 

Dr.  William  Hey.     Bust,  marble.     (Leeds  Infirmary.) 

Sir  Mark  Cubbon.     Bust,  marble.     (India.) 

R.  E.  Ellis.     Bust.     (Trinity  College,  Cambridge.) 

W.  E.  Frere.     Bust,  marble. 

Thomas    Carlyle.     Bust,  marble.     (Modelled    in    1865, 

exhibited   Royal  Academy,   1868,   for  Louisa   Lady 

Ashburton.) 
Mrs.  Hichens.     Medallion. 

William  Dobson.     Bust,  marble.     (Cheltenham.) 
Three  Bas-reliefs.     Marble. 
Thetis  coaxing  Zeus. 
Achilles  and  Pallas  Athena. 
Thetis    and    Achilles,     (For    Gladstone    Memorial    in 

Bodleian,  Oxford.) 
Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone.     Bust,  marble. 

1869.  Sir  Bartle  Frere.     Bust,  marble. 
Joseph  Pease.     Bust,  marble. 

Edward  Wilson.  Bust,  marble.  (Public  Library,  Mel- 
bourne.) 

"  Ophelia."  Half-lifesize.  Statuette,  marble.  (Two  or 
three  replicas  were  carved  of  this  work.) 

David  Sassoon.  Statue,  marble.  (Mechanics  Institute, 
Bombay.     Exhibited  at  South  Kensington  Museum.) 

Mrs.  Hall.     Medallion. 

Hatley  Frere.     Bust,  marble. 

Design  for  Neave  Memorial.     Cross,  marble. 

Mrs.  Cleverly  Alexander.     Medallion,  marble. 

Charles  Darwin.     Medallion.     (Wedgwood.) 

Lord  Palmerston.     Statue,  bronze.     No.  1. 

1870.  "  In  Memoriam."     (Four  Children  in  Paradise.)     Alto- 

relief,  plaster. 

Charles  Darwin.     Bust,  marble. 

Dobson  Memorial  Tablet.  Marble.  (Cheltenham  Col- 
lege Chapel.) 

Design  for  Ogle  Cross. 

Memorial  medallion  of  Gait,  novelist.     (Greenock.) 

A.  H.  Novelli.     Medallion. 

Dr.  Rees.     Bust,  marble. 

1871.  Sir  J.  Hope  Grant.     Bust,  marble. 

Bishop    Temple.     (Afterwards    Archbishop   of   Canter- 
bury.)    Bust,  marble. 
Bright.     Memorial  tablet. 
Dr.  Bayer.     Bust,  marble. 


LIST   OF   WORKS  341 

1871.  Lord  Lawrence.     Bust. 

"  Virgilia  bewailing  Banishment  of  Coriolanus."     Alto- 
relief,  marble. 

1872.  Guinevere.      Half-lifesize.       Statuette,    marble.      (Two 

replicas  were  carved  of  this  figure.) 
Four  Bas-reliefs.     Bronze. 
Decoration  of  a  Memorial  Fountain  at  Wigton  to  Mrs. 

George  Moore.     (Exhibited  Royal  Academy.)     Four 

Acts  of  Mercy :   Feeding  the  Hungry;    Clothing  the 

Naked ;  Visiting  the  Afflicted ;  Teaching  the  Ignorant. 
Charles  Dickens.     Bust,  marble. 
Mrs.  Milnes-Gaskell.     Bust,  marble. 
Sir  Bartle  Frere.     Statue,  marble.     (Bombay.) 
Mr.  Tilleard.     Bust,  plaster. 
Design  for  Lucas  Medal   for  Royal  Academy  of  Music 

(Mercury  teaching  a  Shepherd  Boy  to  sing). 
Sir  John  Simeon.     Bust,  plaster. 
"  In  Memoriam  G.  B."     Alto-rehef.     (A  boy  in  Paradise 

seated  under  a  jessamine  bough.     Exhibited  Royal 

Academy.) 

1873.  Dr.  Whewell.    Statue,  marble.     (Seated  figure  in  Ante- 

Chapel,  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.) 

John  Kehle.     Bust,  marble.     (Westminster  Abbey.) 

Professor  De  Morgan.     Bust,  marble. 

Dr.   Henry   Bence   Jones.     Bust,    marble.     (Royal    In- 
stitution.) 

W.  W.  Pearce.     Bust,  marble. 

Design  for  Simeon  Cross.     (Isle  of  Wight.) 

Memorial  Tablet  to  John  W.  S.  WylHe. 

Professor  De  Morgan.     Medallion.     (Design  for  medal.) 

Mr.  Knowles.     Bust,  marble. 

1874.  John  Hunter.     Colossal  bust,  marble.    (Leicester  Square, 

London.) 
Mrs.  Alfred  Morrison.     Bust,  marble. 
"  Ophelia."     Bust,  marble. 
Alfred  Tennyson.     Bust  draped,  plaster. 
James  Milnes-Gaskell.     Bust,  marble. 
*'  The  Listening  Boy."    (Sketch  for  imaginary  memorial 

to  a  deaf  child.)     Plaster.     {About  this  date.) 

1875.  Bishop  Patteson  Memorial.     Marble.     (Merton  College, 

Oxford.) 
Ransom  Memorial  Vase.     Marble. 
Monument  bas-relief.     Mrs.  James  Anthony  Froude,  in 

St.  Lawrence  Church,  Ramsgate.     Marble. 


342  LIST   OF  WORKS 

1875.  Sir  William  Fairbairn.  Memorial  Tablet.  (Manchester.) 
Meynell-Ingrani  Monument.  Marble.  (Laughton,  Lines.) 
Bluecoat  Boy  Group.    (Lamb.     Middleton.    Coleridge.) 

Bronze.     (Christ's  Hospital.) 
Winterhotham  Medallion. 
Lord  Lawrence,     Statue,  bronze.     (Calcutta.) 

1876.  Daniel    Hanhury.     Medallion,    marble.     (La    Mortola, 

Men  tone.) 
Alfred  Tennyson.     Bust,  marble.     (The  bearded  bust, 

in  National  Gallery,  Adelaide.     Modelled  in  1873.) 
Lord  Palmerston.     Statue,  bronze.     (The  second  statue, 

the  first  being  found  too  small  when  in  position  in 

Parliament  Square.) 
"  The  Crucifixion."     Reredos,    marble.     (St.  John  the 

Evangelist,  Liverpool.) 
Lord  Sandon.     Bust,  marble. 

Charles  Kingsley.   Bust,  marble.     (Westminster  Abbey.) 
Professor  T.  H.  Key,    Bust,  marble.    (University  College, 

Gower  Street.) 
T,  M.  Talbot.     Bust,  plaster. 
Professor  John  Tyndall.     Medallion. 
Sir  Cowasjee  Jehanghir  Readimoney,     Statue,  marble. 

(Bombay.) 
Sir   Cowasjee  Jehanghir  Readimoney.     Relief,   marble. 

(University  of  Edinburgh.) 

1877.  Edwin    Field,      Statue,    marble.      New    Law     Courts, 

London. 
William  Fuller-Maitland.     Bust,  marble. 
Edmund  Law  Lushington.     Bust,  marble.     There    was 

a  replica.     (University  of  Glasgow.) 
Cocker  ell  Medallion. 

1878.  Sir  Thomas  White.     Statue  heroic,  marble.     (Merchant 

Taylors  Company.) 
"  Godiva.''"'     Half-lifesize.    Statuette,  marble. 
Sir  John   Simon,     Bust,    marble.     (Royal    College     of 

Surgeons.) 
John     Owen,      Medallion,    marble.      (Owens     College, 

Manchester.) 

1879.  Cookson.     Bust,  marble.     (Peterhouse,  Cambridge.) 
Professor  Huxley.     Bust,  marble. 

John  Stuart  Mill.  Statue,  bronze.  (Seated  figure. 
Thames  Embankment.) 

Captain  Cook.  Colossal  statue,  bronze.  (For  Sydney, 
N.S.W.  Exhibited  in  Waterloo  Place,  London,  June, 
1878;  unveiled  in  Sydney,  February,  1879.) 


LIST   OF  WORKS  343 

1879.  W.  M.  Torr.     Bust,  marble. 

James  Aikin,  J. P.     Bust,  marble.     (Liverpool.) 
Judge  Quain,     Bust,  marble. 

1880.  Sir  Redmond  Barry.     Bust,  marble.     (Melbourne  Free 

Library.) 
W.  G.  Clark.     Bust,  marble.     (Cambridge.) 
Joseph  Chamberlain.     Medallion,  marble. 
Dr.  Percival  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Hereford).     Bust, 

marble.     (Clifton  College.) 
Memorial  Headstone  to  Sir  Francis  Grant,  P.R.A. 
Judge  Keogh.     Bust,  marble. 
Hon.  H.  Dudley  Ryder.     Bust,  marble. 
Lord  Chief  Justice  Whiteside.     Statue,  marble.     (Hall 

of  the  Four  Courts,  Dublin.) 
W.  G.  Clark  Tablet. 
Sir  William  Gull.     Bust,  marble. 
Mr.  Cammell.     Bust,  marble. 

1881.  Lord  Lawrence.     Bust,  marble.     (With  Star  of  India. 

Westminster  Abbey.) 
^' Enid.''     Half-lifesize.     Statuette,  marble. 
Design  for  tomb — Dr.  Percy's  wife. 
Hepworth  Dixon.     Three-quarter  memorial   Medallion. 

(Kensal  Green.) 
Colossal  Head  of  Bunyan.     Alto-relief,  stone. 
Colossal  Head  of  Cromwell.     Alto-relief,  stone. 
Shakespeare.     Alto-relief. 
T.  Carlyle.     Alto-relief.     (Birmingham.) 

1882.  Design  for  Science  Research  Medal.    (University  College, 

Gower  Street.) 
James    Spedding.      Medallion,  marble.      (Ante-Chapel, 

Trinity  College,  Cambridge.) 
E.  M.  Barry,  R.A.     Bust,  marble. 
Sir  Edwin  Landseer.     Monument,  marble.     (In   Crypt 

of  St.  Paul's.)  / 

Design  for  Percival  Cross.     (Holywell,  Oxford.) 
Earl  of  Clanwilliam  (father  of  Admiral  Earl  of  Clan- 

william.)     Bust,  marble. 
George  Dawson.     Statue,  marble. 

1883.  Queen    Victoria.     Statue,    marble.     (Exhibited    Royal 

Academy,  1883;  sent  to  Birmingham,  1884.) 
Rt.  Hon.   W.  E.  Gladstone.     Bust,  marble.     (For  Cor- 
poration of  City  of  London  in  Guildhall.     Exhibited 
Royal  Academy.) 
Sir  William  Erie.     Bust,  marble.     (Temple  Library.) 


344  LIST   OF   WORKS 

1883.  Dorothy.'^     Medallion,  marble. 
Miss  Hankey.     Bust,  plaster. 
Alice  Gertrude  Woolner.     Medallion. 
Clare  Woolner.     Medallion. 
Phyllis  Woolner.     Medallion. 

Lord  Lawrence.     Medallion.     (Design  for  gold  medal.') 
Walcott  Leigh  Browne.     Medallion,  marble. 

1884.  Gleadhall  Tablet.     (Foundling  Hospital.) 
Earl  of  Beaconsfield.     Bust,  bronze. 

Earl  Russell.     Bust,  bronze.     (Sydney,  N.S.W.) 
"  The  Water  Lily.''     Alto-relief,  bronze. 

1885.  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish.     Recumbent  statue,  marble. 

(Monument   in    Cartmel   Priory   Church-     Exhibited 

Royal  Academy,  1885.) 
Richard  Quain,  anatomist.     Bust,  marble. 
Mrs.  Mirrielees.    Medallion,  marble.     (Exhibited  Royal 

Academy,  1885.) 
Sir  Donald  Currie.     Bust,  marble.     (Exhibited  Royal 

Academy,  1885.) 
James  Barclay,  M.P.     Medallion,  bronze. 
Mi's.  Barclay.     Medallion,  bronze. 
Lord  Palmerston.     Bust,  bronze. 
Earl  of  Derby.     Bust,  bronze.     (Sydney,  N.S.W.) 

1886.  Lady  Currie.     Bust,  marble.     (Not  exhibited.) 

Miss  Currie.     Three-quarter  medallion,  marble.     (Not 

exhibited.) 
Professor    Munro.     Bust,     marble.     (Trinity     College, 

Cambridge.) 
Sir  Henry  Parkes.     Bust,  plaster. 

1887.  Bishop     Jackson.      Bishop     of     London.     Recumbent 

statue,  marble.     (Monument  in  St.  Paul's.) 
Andrew  Knowles.     Bust,  marble. 
Design  for  the  Brook  Cross. 

Sir  Stamford  Raffles.     Colossal  statue,  bronze.     (Singa- 
pore.) 

1888.  Bishop  Eraser.    Colossal  statue,  bronze.    (Albert  Square, 

Manchester.)    (Three  reliefs  on  the  pedestal  of  statue 
in  bronze.) 

1889.  Rev.   Coutts  Trotter.     Bust,   marble.     (Trinity  College, 

Cambridge.) 

^  Dorothy,  daughter  of  T.  Woolner,  R.A.,  married,  in  1900,  George 
Henry  Stephens,  C.M.G.,  who  was  then  in  charge  of  the  construction  of 
the  Assiout  Barrage,  Egypt. 


LIST   OF   WORKS  345 

1889.  Sir    Joseph    Whitworth.     Medallion,    marble.     (Owens 

College,  Manchester.) 
Principal    Harrison.      Bust,    marble.      (Muir     College, 
Allahabad.) 

1890.  Sir  Thomas  Elder.     Bust,  marble.     (University  of  Ade- 

laide, South  Australia.) 
The   Marquis   of   Salisbury.     Bust,   bronze.     (Sydney, 

N.S.W.) 

1891.  Sir  Robert  Rawlinson.     Bust,  marble. 

1893.  "  The  Housemaid.'^  Life-size  figure,  bronze.  (Exhi- 
bited in  1893  at  Royal  Academy.  The  model  was 
finished  in  Autumn  of  1892.  The  sculptor's  last 
work.) 

As  a  rule  the  dates  of  works  in  this  list  represent  the  date  of  exhibition, 
not  when  the  work  was  finished.  The  dates  on  a  marble  bust  means 
when  it  was  finished.  As  examples,  the  bust  of  Sir  William  Hooker  was 
finished  in  1859,  and  has  that  date  on  the  base ;  but  it  was  exhibited  in 
1860,  which  constitutes  the  date  of  copyright.  The  bust  of  the  Rev. 
F.  D.  Maurice  was  finished  in  1858,  and  not  exhibited  till  1861. 


LIST   OF  WRITINGS 

"  My  Beautiful  Lady  "  ^ :  a  Poem.  1863.  Second  edition 
1864;  third  edition  1866.  With  frontispiece  by  Arthur 
Hughes.     Pubhshed  by  Macmillan. 

"  Pygmahon  "  :    a  Poem.     1881.     Pubhshed  by  Macmillan. 

"  Silenus  "  :    a  Poem.     1884.     Pubhshed  by  Macmillan. 

"  Tiresias  "  :    a  Poem.     1886.     Pubhshed  by  George  Beh. 

"Nelly  Dale"  and  "  Children."  2  Poems.  1887.  Published 
by  George  Bell. 

"  William  Mulready  "  :   an  Essay.     1886. 

"  William  Collins  "  :  an  Essay.     1886. 

"  James  Chambers,  the  Beggar  Poet."  Article  in  Nineteenth 
Century  magazine.     1887. 

"  A  Sea  Story."     Tale  in  The  Argosy  magazine.     1888. 

"  The  Wife  "  :  a  Poem. 

Woolner  designed  and  drew  three  frontispieces  for  books : 
the  most  admired  and  well  known  being  "  The  Piping  Shepherd  " 
for  Palgrave's  Golden  Treasury.  Next  in  interest  is  the  frontis- 
piece for  Patmore's  The  Children's  Garland,  and  King  David 
for  the  Book  of  Praise;  all  these  three  designs  being  finely 
engraved  by  Jeens. 

An  engraving  after  Woolner's  Statue  of  Bacon  adorns 
Bacon's  Essays  ("Golden  Treasury  Series"),  and  an  engraving 
after  his  statue  of  "  Guinevere  "  forms  the  frontispiece  of  the 
*'  Idylls  of  the  King,"  by  special  request  of  Lord  Tennyson, 
Poet  Laureate. 

1  In  1887  Woolner  gave  his  poems  "  My  Beautiful  Lady  "  and  "  Nelly 
Dale  "  to  Messrs.  Cassell  for  their  National  Library. 

2  The  poem  of  "  Children  "  was  written  long  before  its  publication 
with  "  Nelly  Dale." 

346 


INDEX 


Academy,  Royal,  4,  13,  53,  55, 
57,  59,  65,  114,  131,  158,  168, 
175  (note),  189  (note),  190,  191, 
192,  238,  289,  300,  303,  306, 
307,  310,  321,  333 
Schools,  3,  307 

Acland,  Dr.,   123  (note),  269 

Adelaide  (National  Art  Gallery),  306 

"  Alastor  "  (bas-reUef ),  4 

Allingham,  William,  9,  55,  71,  118, 
154,    184,    199,  234-5,  243^; 
271    (his    views    on    Ireland); 
273^,  275,  276,  297,  307-9 
Mrs.  W.,  ix 

Amberley,  Lady,  279 

ArgyU,  Duke  of,  216 

Arnold,  Matthew,  145 

Art    Treasures    Exhibition    (Man- 
chester),  135 

Arts,  Society  of,  3 

Ashburton,  Lousia,  Lady,  4,  258, 
261,  279  {note) 
Lord,  203 

Athenaeum,  The,  55,  118,  124,  276, 
280,  308,  323 

Bacon  (statue  of),  115,  123,  134 

Bailey  (sculptor),  64 

Barnes,  WilUam  (poet),  176 

Barrett,  Mr.,  133 

Bateman,  Edward  Latrobe,  14,  17, 

18,  31,  35,  47,  50,  51,  54,  56, 

57,  60,  63,  69 
Behnes,   WilUam    (sculptor),  2,  3; 

(painter),  2 
Bell,  Rev.  George  C,  299 
Bellows,  Dr.  (of  Boston),  143 
Besant,  Sir  Walter,  315  (note) 
Bland-Sutton,  Sir  John,  4 
Bodleian   Library,    the,    237,    270, 

307  {note) 
Bonham-Carter,    Miss,    129    {note), 

266 


Bourke,  Sir  Richard,  64 

British  Institute,  4,  5,  58,  69 

British  Museum,  the,  256 

Brodie,  107  {note),  165 

Brooke,     Sir     James,     Rajah     of 

Sarawak,  148,    152,    153,   155, 

158,   159,   160,   165,   167,   168, 

171,  197 
Brookfield,  J^Irs.  and  Mr.,  123,  134 
Brown,  Ford  Madox,  14,  46,  54,  69, 

71,  186 
Browning,  Robert,  5,  6,  115,  118, 

120-1,     122,     124,    125,    126, 

127,  151,  159,  165,  195-6,  215, 

216,  244-5,  259,  331 
IVIrs.  E.  B.,  103,  116,  123,  124, 

125,  127,  133,  151 
Butler,    Rev.    H.    Montagu,  D.D., 

173,  178,  200,  226-7 
Buxton,  Charles,  M.R,  180,  205 
Byron,  Lady  Noel,  193 

Cambridge  {see  also  Trinity  CoUege), 
146,  173,  182,  187-8 

Cameron  (family),  132,  139,  147, 
181,  196 

Carlyle,  Jane,  103,  125,  133,  134, 
146,  148-9,  150,  153,  176,  183, 
197,  201-2,  203,  216,  226,  232, 
254-5,  264 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  11,  12,  56,  65, 
116,  124,  132,  134,  136,  144, 
145,  147,  150,  153,  154,  156, 
164-5,  175,  197,  216,  228; 
232  (with  Dickens);  247-8, 
249-50,  251-2,  258,  259,  262, 
264,  265,  275,  295,  315 

Cayley,  Professor,  330 

Chantrey  Bequest,  303 
Sir  F.,  315 

Chapman  &  Hall,  133,  196 

Christie's  (sale  at),  168,  294  and 
note 


347 


348 


INDEX 


Churchyard  (painter),  287 

Clark,  W.  G.  (of  Trinity),  146,  182, 

187,  189,  196 
Clough,  IMrs.,  274 
Clubs  :    "  Our   Club,"    Athenaeum, 

Cosmopolitan,  Savile,  Savage, 

Garrick,    Reform,    Burlington 

Fine    Arts,    Rabelais,    314-15 

{notes) ;   Urban,  313 
Cobden,  Richard  (busts  of),  262  and 

note 
Cockerell,  Frederick  (architect),  291 
Coleridge     Memorial     (at     Christ's 

Hospital),  299 
Coliseum,  Regent's  Park,  3 
College,  Working  Men's,  155,  157 
Collins,  54 
Collinson,  J.,  4,  54 
Combe,     Thomas     (of     Clarendon 

Press),    184-5,    194,   236,   240, 

246  (note),  268,  269 
Mrs.,  184,  235,  246,  271,  278 
Commons,   House   of,   Rossetti  on 

frescoes  at,  49 
Cook,  Captain,  295-7  (statue  of,  for 

Sydney);  306;  308  {poem  on) 
Cornhill,  274 
Cox,  David,  135 
Frank  R.,  160 
Critic,  The,  55 
Currie,  Sir  Donald  and  Lady,  324 

Darwin,  Charles,  197,  283,  284,  288 

W.  E.,  283 
Davy,  Dr.,  12,  13 

Deverell,  Walter,  54,  59,  67,  68,  69 
Diamond,  Dr.,  314  {note) 
Dickens,    Charles,    135,    232;    289 

(bust  of);  290,  314,  319 
Dilberoglue,  Stauros,  300 
Dixon,  Hepworth,  315 

Edinburgh,  119 
Elkington,  Messrs.,  322  {note) 
Emerson,  R.  W.,  118,  143,  165 
"  Eros  and  Euphrosyne  "  ("  Lanky 

Nan"),  5 
Exhibitor,  The,  53 

Fairbairn  children,  the,  135,  137, 
138;  140  (and  parents);  141, 
149,  171,  186,  205,  215,  216 

Fairbairn  family,  the,  140;  (T.)  148; 
152,  153,  154,  160,  162,  165, 
167,     168,     169,     171,      188; 


195  (WilUam);  205,  216,  227 

228 
Fanning,  WiUiam,   103 
Fechter,  290 

Fitzgerald,  Edward,  277-8,  287 
Flaxman  (drawings ),  305,  323 
Fletcher,  Mrs.,  11 
Foley,  168,  297 
Fowler,  John,  273 
Frankhn,  Lady,  123 
Frasefs  Magazine,  241, 274, 307, 309 
Frere,  Sir  Bartle,  289 
Frith,  Mr.,  311,  312 
Froude,  J.  A.,  128,  129,  147,  161, 

202,  204,  206,  229,  233,  239, 

253,  293  and  note,  303-4 
Mrs.,  249,  293 

Gaunt,  Miss,  265,  266 
George  V.,  King,  306 
Germ,  The,  9,  244 
Gibson,  135 
Gilbert,  Sir  J.,  313 
Ginsburg,  Dr.,  314  {note) 
Gladstone,  Henry  N.,  237,  246 

Herbert,  237 

Right  Hon.  W.  E.,  178,  229,  236, 
237,  251,  262,  263,  270,  271, 
275,  320-1,  321-2 

Mrs.  W.  E.,  237,  238,  239 
"Godiva"  (statue),  307 
Godley,  John  Robert  (statue),  230, 

241,  247,  280 
Grant,  Sir  Alexander,  161,  162,  163 

Sir  Francis,  P.R.A.,  296 
Granville,  Lord,  178 
"  Guinivere  "  (statuette),  290 
Gull,  Sir  WiUiam,  242 

Haehnel,  Julius,  63,  229,  241,  242 
Halle,  Sir  Charles,  174 
Hannay,  47,  54,  55,  56,  71 
Harcourt,  Vernon,  161 
Hare,  Archdeacon,  200,  205;  (and 

Mrs.)  227 
Helps,  Sir  Arthur,  129  {note) 

Miss  Alice,  129  {note) 
Henning,  Mr.,  3 
Henslow,  Professor,  205 
Hervey,  Lord  Francis,  292 
Hilliard,  Mrs.,  162 
Hogarth  Club,  157  {note),  164 
Hollis,  F.,  128 
Hooker,  Dr.  Joseph,  154,  155,  169- 

70,  171,  190,  192,  280-1 


INDEX 


349 


Hooker,  IMrs.,  190-1,  192 
Sir  WilHam,  155,  171,  172, 
175,  186,  188,  189  (note) 
Lady,  171,  191 
Hoskins,  Admiral  Sir  Anthony,  324 
"  Housemaid,  The,"  332-3 
Howitt,  Charles,  60,  103 
Edward  (son),  20 
Godfrey,  Dr.,  18,  19,  34,  36,  59, 

60,  63 
Mr.,  20,  26,  48,  53 
Airs.,  17,  48,  51,  53,  60 
]\Iiss,  51,  53,  54,  69,  103 
Hughes,  Arthur  (painter),  54,  253, 

254,  264,  267 
Hunt,  W.  Holman,  4,  6,  9,  10,  45, 
46,  50,  51,  52,  53,  58,  59,  62 
{note),  63,  64,  70,  72,  105,  114, 
128,    133,    135,    139,    154,    159 
(note),  180,  184,  185  {note),  192, 
193,   196,   197,  227,  256,  275, 
299 
Mrs.  (Fanny  Waugh),  261,  275 
Cyril,  284 
Huxley,  Professor,  306 

Ingres,  6,  294 

Jenner,  Sir  William,  129 
Charles,  129,  180,  267 
Jermyn,  Arch.,  240 
Jerrold,  Douglas,  314  and  note 
Jewsburys,  the,  141 
Joachim,  Dr.  J.,  174 
Jowett,  157,  188,  259 

Keats,  275 

King,  Lady  Annabella,  129 

Kinglake,  135 

Kingsleys,  the,  181,  204,  304  (bust 

of  Charles);   305 
Knox,  Mr.,  167,  171,  182 

Latrobe  (Governor  of  Victoria)  and 

wife,  14,  18,  34,  53,  63,  103 
Lawrence,  Lord  (busts  and  statue 

of),  289 
Sir  Henry,  137 
Lay,  IVIr.,  228,  229 
Lear,  Edward,  58,   134,   154,   162, 

185-6,  196-7,  250,  284-5 
Legros,  Alphonse,  300 
Lewis,  John  Frederick,  R.A.,  165, 

293,  294  {note),  297,  299,  300, 

302-3 


Lewis,  Mrs.,  305 

Liddon,  Canon,  304  {note) 

Linton  (the  engraver),  132,  133 

Little  Holland  House,  168 

Lloyd,  Watkiss,  262 

Lonsdale,  Mrs.,  34 

Luchesi,  110,  111 

Ludlow,  152,  155 

Lushington,  Edmund  Law,  175 

Dr.,  122 

Edward  Henry,  134,  175,  177 

F.,  196 

Stephen,  Rt.  Hon.,  120  {note) 

Vernon,  120,  122,  123,  131,   133, 
140,   173,   177,   180,  292 

Macaulay  (statue),  195,  217,218,241 
McCracken  (of  Belfast),  52,  59,  71 
Macmillan  &  Co.,  74,  174,  204,  206, 

243 

Mr.,  146 

Macready,  6 

Mann,  Dr.  and  Airs.,  122-3 
Marochetti,  135,  183,  195 
Martineau,  Robert,  186 

Airs.,  196 
Massey,  Gerald,  141 
Alasson,  161,  206 
Maurice,    Frederick    Denison    and 

Mrs.,  132,  138,  152,  155,  157, 

159,  160,  161,  162,  181,  200 
MiUais,  J.  E.,  4,  46,  50,  53,  54,  55, 

58,  59,   65,   69,   71,   105,  112; 

114  (his  "Blind  Girl");   121, 

130,  192 
WiUiam,  46 
Miller,  Mr.  (picture  collector),  141 
Milnes-Gaskell,  Aliss  Cecil,  228  {note) 
Monteagle,  Lord,  139 
Moore,     Mrs.     George      (Alemorial 

Fountain  to),  290 
Morris,  Wilham,  143,  284 
Moxon,  71,  108,  109,  111,  121,  122 
Mulready,  W.,  135,  165,  281 
Munro,  54,  69,  119,  135 

Professor,  313 
Murray,  John,  216 

Naftal,  Paul,  253 
Napoleon,  Louis,  144,  183,  262 
National  Portrait  Gallery,  132 
Newman,  Cardinal,  184  {note),  271, 

272,  311,  325 
Nicholson,  Sir  Charles,  65 
Norman,  George  Warde,  169 


350 


INDEX 


Novelli,  A.  H.,  148,  152,  153,  167, 
169,  190,  192,  203,  289 

Orme  family,  the,  22,  35,  39-40,  42, 

47,  51,  71 
Osborn,  Captain  Sherard,  228,  229, 

239 
O'Shea  (stonemason),  213 
Ouless,  W.  W.,  R.A.,  330  (and  note) 
Overstone,  Lord,  197 
Owen,  Richard,  Professor,  165,  261 

Palgrave,  Frank  T.,  149,  154,  157, 
162,  180,  181,  192,  198,  199, 
203,  205,  206,  207,  213,  227, 
236,  253,  256,  263,  264,  265, 
266,  267,  272,  278,  279,  280, 
305 
Gifford,  245,  265,  272,  277 

Palmerston,  Lord  (statue),  280 

Paris,  6,  137,  294 

Parker,  J.,  145,  147,  161 

Parkes,  Sir  Henry,  320 

Patmore,  Coventry,  5,  6,  7,  9,  11, 
55,  103,  107,  116,  137,  145, 
147,  176,  193,  206,  233,  234, 
241,  267,  292,  322^,  325,  326, 
327,  328,  329,  331,  332 
Mrs.   ("The  Angel"),   103,   104, 

118,  137,  176,  193,206 
George,  58 
Mrs.  George,  225 

Peel,  Archibald,  242  and  note,  279 

Pinchin  (the  brothers  J.  and  H.), 
21,  24,  25,  26,  27,  29,  32,  33, 
34,  37,  60 

Pre-Raphaelite  Brotherhood,  4,  5, 
9,  10,  14,  17,  50,  53,  62,  64,  65 

Prescotts,  the,  139,  197,  273 

Prinseps,  the,  135,  138,  149,  165, 
169,  174 

"Puck"  (bronze),  4,  6,  7,  65,  283 
(note) 

Punch,  ix,  179  {note) 

"Pygmalion"  (poem),  311,  312 

Raffles,  Sir  Stamford   (statue   of), 

326 
Read  (poet),  123 
Record  Office,  the,  249 
"  Red  Riding  Hood,"  53 
Rhodes,  Emily,  264-5 
Rice,  Spring,  Mr.,  136,  139 
Richardson,  Dr.  Benjamin,  314 
Richmond,  Sir  William,  200,  203 


RoUeston  (Rowlson),  178 
Ross,  J.  Callander,  334 
Rossetti,  Christina,  47,  51,  53 
D.   G.,   4,   5,   6,    10,    19,   44-57, 
58,    59,    62,    64,    66-72,    103, 
105,   108,   116,   120,   121,   128, 
131,  132-3,  321  {note) 
Maria,  53,  68 

W.  M.,  4,  6,  8,  9,  46,  47,  51,  53, 
55,   59,   62,   68,   73,   103,   135, 
183   321 
Ruskin,'l2,  52,  53,  71,  86-8,  114, 

130-6,  138,  144,  183,  203 
Ruxton,  Mr.,  143 

Sadler's  Wells  Theatre,  6 

Scott,   WilHam  Bell,   57,   69;    103 

(and  wife);  124-5,  126-7,  131, 

141,  142-3,  150-1,  229,  329 
Seddon,  Thomas,  128 
Sedgwick,    Professor    Adam,    182, 

186,   187,   188,   189,  202,  203; 

204  (bust  of);  217-81 
Shaen,  WilHam,  205 
Shelley,  Percy  Bysshe,  8,  275,  315, 

327 
Simeon,   Sir  John,   117,    118,   123, 

125,   132,   152,   169,   181,   185, 

186,     206,    228,    230-1,    247, 

267,  306,  326 
Simon,  Sir  John,  306 
Smith,  Alexander  (of  Glasgow),  55 
Bernhard,  14,  17,  18,  21,  27,  31, 

34,  47,  48,  50,  51,  54,  56,  57, 

60,  71 
Spectator,  The,  65,  124,  326 
Stephens,  F.  G.,  4,  10,  45,  54,  57-9, 

69,  70,  71,  307 
Stone,  Frank,  182 
Stothard,  161,  162,  163 
Stowe,  Mrs.  Beecher,  55 
Swinburne,  Sir  John,  119 

Miss,  119 
Symonds,  Dr.,  262,  263 

Tait,  150,  201 

Taylor,  Bayard,  135 

Temple,  Dr.,  225 

Tennyson,  Alfred  (Lord),  5,  10,  11, 
12,  13,  65,  105,  107,  109,  111, 
114,  116,  117,  121  {note),  135, 
145,  147,  159,  169;  179  (poem 
on  his  bust);  189,  190,  202, 
208,  213,  216,  218,  229,  244, 
251,  257,  262,  279,  306,  333 


INDEX 


351 


Tennyson,  Emily  (for  Letters  see 
"Contents"),  102  (note),  103, 
150,  157,  185,  218,  258,  262 
Hallam  (Lord),  102  (note),  106, 
109,  110,  111,  114,  147,  148, 
163,  180,  291 
Lionel,  106,  110,  127,  133,  148, 
258,  291 

Tewsbury,  Frank,  135 

Thackeray,  W.  M.,  135,  139,  165, 
169 

Thompson,  Professor,  134,  146 

Times,  The,  182 

Trench,  Dean,  197 

Trevelyan,  Sir  Walter  and  Lady, 
118,  119,  125,  126,  127  (note), 
137,  138,  142,  154,  155,  156, 
159,  194,  199,  240,  262 

Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  145, 
146,  172,  177,  180,  200.  204, 
227,  330  (note) 

Turner,  87,  119,  135,  169,  261,  294, 
323 

Venables,  176,  197 

Ward,  Lord,  140 
Warre,  John  Ashley,  202 
Waterhouse,  Alfred,  233 
Watts,  G.  F.,  49,  135,  165,  166 

H.  E.,  135,  165,  166,  167  (note) 
Waugh,  Alexander,  250 

Alice    Gertrude    {see    also    Mrs. 

Woolner),  248,  249,  250 
Fanny  (IVIrs.  Holman  Hunt),  159, 

261,  275 
George,  248 
Mary,  248 
Wedgwood,  5,  283 
Weld,  Mr.  and  Airs.,  109,  131 
Sir  Frederick  Aloysius,  326 
Wellington,  Duke  of,  13,  52,  73 
Wentworth,  W.  C.  (statue  of),  64, 
65,  66,  72,  73,  103,  104,  134-5 
Westminster  Abbey,  180,  289,  304 

Hall,  3 
Whewell,  Dr.,  178,  179,  180,  200 
White,  Walter,  314  (note) 
Wilson,  Edward,  185,  195,  196,  249, 

256 
Wright,  W.   Aldis,  310,  311,  330, 

331,  332 
Wood,  Mrs.,  311 

Woodington  (the  sculptor),  260, 
261 


Woodward,  Benjamin,  156,  205 
Woolner,  Thomas,  R.A.,  birth- 
place and  origin  of  name,  1 ; 
education,  2;  enters  R.A. 
Schools,  3 ;  early  exhibits,  3-5 ; 
methods  of  work,  vii.,  anec- 
dotes, 1-3 ;  association  with 
P.R.B.,  4-5;  Stanhope  Street 
Studio,  5;  visits  Paris,  6;  at 
Great  Marlow,  7;  contributes 
to  The  Germ,  9 ;  visits  Tennyson 
at  Coniston,  1 1 ;  Carlyle  sits 
for  portrait  medallion,  11-12; 
Wordsworth  medallion  for 
Grasmere  Church,  etc.,  13-14; 
sails  to  AustraUa  in  Windsor, 
15;  account  of  voyage,  15-17; 
Melbourne,  18-20;  life  in 
country  and  in  gold-fields, 
20-34,  36^4;  Sydney,  44; 
letters  to  father  from  Mel- 
bourne and  Sydney,  60-6, 
72-3;  his  sea  story,  74-82; 
log  on  homeward  voyage  on 
Queen  of  the  South,  82-96, 
98-102 ;  correspondence  with 
Mrs.  Tennyson  from  London, 
104-16;  Browning  and  Tenny- 
son on  medalUons,  115;  visits 
the  Trevelyans,  118;  the  Bacon 
Statue,  123;  to  Manchester, 
135 ;  Tennyson  bust  for  Trinity 
College,  173;  to  Cambridge, 
182;  to  Oxford,  194;  tour  in 
Devon  and  Cornwall  with 
Tennyson  and  Palgrave,  198; 
Sedgwick  bust,  and  Ramsgate 
«  Tablet,  204 ;  buys  house  in  Wel- 
beck  Street,  205;  his  "Fisher 
man's  Story,"  for  Tennyson, 
208;  Browning  on  "  Fairbaim 
Group,"  216;  "The  Sermon" 
(for  "Aylmer's  Field"),  219; 
the  Godley  statue  for  Sydney, 
230;  to  Hawarden  for  Glad- 
stone's bust,  237 ;  Diploma 
work  for  R.A.,  238;  Haehnel's 
"Wild  Boar,"  242;  "Moses" 
statue  for  Manchester,  245; 
engagement  to  Miss  A.  J. 
Waugh,  248 ;  marriage,  253 ; 
his  studio  workmen  (\\ath 
Turner  story),  260;  Peel 
Monument  and  Cobden  busts, 
262;  birth  of  first  child,  264; 


352 


INDEX 


"Virgilia,"  279;  Palmerston 
statue,  280;  as  picture  collec- 
tor, 281;  elected  A.R.A., 
289;  his  country  house  at 
Cranesfield,  291-2;  the  Cook 
statue  for  Sydney,  295-7; 
his  portrait  by  Legros,  300; 
Continental  tour,  300;  elected 
R.A.,  302;  Professor  of 
Sculpture,  306;  his  finest 
marble  bust,  306;  speech  on 
Shakespeare,  313  et  seq. ;  as 
clubman,  314-15  (notes);  mem- 
bership of  learned  societies, 
315;  as  raconteur,  319;  cor- 
respondence with  Gladstone 
re  busts  of  EngUsh  Premiers 
for  Sydney,  320-2;    death   of 


son  Geoffrey,  312;  takes  two 
cruises,  324;  buys  estate  near 
Horsham,  327;  becomes  Hon. 
Freeman  of  Salters'  Co.,  332; 
his  home  life,  333;  apprecia- 
tion of,  334-5.  (For  Letters 
see  Contents.) 
Woohier,  Geoffrey,  321 

Helen  (sister),  19,  62 

Henry  (brother),  70 

Mrs.  (see  Waugh,  A.  G.),  253, 
254,  258,  264,  270,  278,  284, 
285,  286,  292,  307 

Thomas  (father),  15,  59-62,63-4, 
70,  72-3,  97 
"  Woohierian  tip,"  the,  283,  288 
Wordsworth    (medallion),    12,    13; 
14  (memorial  desi^) 


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